Wolf's Den - Human Filet
by Stormswift
Summary: It's common knowledge in La Push and Forks that some of the shape-shifters haven't aged properly in the past 18 years and the people have somehow accepted that they won't get an explanation for that. When the media carries this fact to a broader public, things get out of hand and endanger not only the big secret and everyone's plans for the future, but also their lives. ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer**: __I don't own anything recognizable from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight universe. But I do own my OCs and the plot._

___A big thanks to my beta Tragically Magical! You're great :)_

_This is the third story in my Wolf's Den series. It can be read without knowing the other two. If you want to read the others nonetheless, please note that they are rated M while I'll try to keep this one rated T. However, since it takes place 18 years after Breaking Dawn, you'll need an update on the wolves and their imprints/families. Ages are in brackets. The wolves and Nessie have two ages: the first one is what they look like and the second is their true age. Those OCs whose names are bold are the more important ones, so that you know which ones you should remember._

_The original wolves:_

_- Leah(30/38): Beta, engaged to Sebastian "__**Basti**__" Reichenbach(31) who descends from a German bloodline of shape-shifters, Leah has three children from a previous marriage: twins June and Janelle "Nell(y)"(12) and son Jayden "Jay"(5)_

_- Collin(17/31): active shape-shifter, imprinted on Janelle_

_- Sam(34/38): retired from being a wolf, married to Emily(36), father of Adrian(14), Emma(11), and adoptive father of Embry's imprint Autumn(19)_

_- Embry(20/34): retired, used to be Deputy Alpha, works as a ranger at Olympic National Park, imprinted on Autumn(19), Embry is Sam's half brother_

_- Seth(19/32): retired, imprinted on Basti's cousin __**Julia**__(19), lives in Port Angeles_

_- Jacob "Jake"(18/34): left La Push together with the Cullens; is the official Alpha, but a deputy usually leads the pack; currently living in Europe with Renesmee "Nessie"(17/18)_

_- Jared(31/34): retired, married to Kim(34) who is a doctor at Forks hospital, father of Tate(10) and Ray(8)_

_- Quil(22/34): retired, dates Claire(21)_

_- Paul: dead, his widow Rachel(38) moved to Hawaii after his death with their children Noah(13), Lily(9) and Paul Jnr.(2)_

_- Brady: left into the wilderness of Canada after a vampire killed his imprint, pack lost mind connection to him two years later, might have retired the opposite way, meaning that he gave up his human self and lives like a wild wolf now_

_The seven wolves that joined the pack shortly before the battle with the Volturi:_

_- Chadwick "__**Chad**__"(18/33): active shape-shifter, hasn't imprinted yet, police officer at Forks police station_

_- __**Aaron**__(18/33): current Deputy Alpha, hasn't imprinted_

_- Skyler "__**Sky**__"(17/31): active shape-shifter, Aaron's brother, hasn't imprinted_

_- Zachary "Zack"(16/30): active shape-shifter, hasn't imprinted, Paul's cousin, has the Lahote hot temper_

_- Leonard "Lennie"(23/31): retired, imprinted on __**Ava**__(21), a girl from Forks_

_- Cory(22/30): retired, imprinted on Olivia(19)_

_- Simon(17/32): active shape-shifter, imprinted on Ruby(15), they're still in a brother-sister relationship_

_Recently phased wolf:_

_- Dave(18/20): Zack's brother, imprinted on Willow(17), is going to retire as soon as he has complete control over his phasing_

_Humans:_

_- Charlie and Sue are married_

_- Silke Reichenbach-Finch: Julia's mother, her father was killed by vampires when she was two, Silke remarried an American_

_Quite a lot of names, I'm afraid, but hopefully with the progress of the story you'll quickly get to know the important characters._

_Pronunciation of the German names:_

_I tried to explain the pronunciation in my past stories, but I've discovered that Google Translate gives you the possibility to listen to a word and even names. I guess it's much easier to repeat something that you hear than to go with my written description of the pronunciation. Julia, Sebastian, Silke and Reichenbach all sound very well at Google Translate (don't forget to change the language to German). Basti sounds a little weird there, in reality it sounds a lot like 'busty' :D_

* * *

**Future Plans**

-Leah's POV-

Thursday, June 6

Summer break had just begun and everybody seemed to be busy planning something. Autumn, Julia and Olivia had graduated this year and wanted to go to Washington State University together with their imprinters Embry, Seth and Cory. All of them had already been accepted, but now they had to find an apartment that was big enough for three oversized shape-shifters and was also in their price range. They had to organize everything for the move and make lists of what they would need to buy for their very first house together. Although Embry, Seth and Cory had had their own houses for years and owned pretty much everything they needed, the girls wanted to replace some things because they were just too "bachelor's den-ish", as they said.

Now that Ruby was fifteen, Simon wanted to take their relationship to the next level. He was afraid to screw up and therefore planned his strategy very carefully, knocking it on the head and starting over again every other day.

Ava had just found out that she was pregnant and she and Lennie were thinking hard on how to tell her parents. They had never liked Lennie. Hearing that he had impregnated their daughter at the age of twenty one and kept her away from her studies would certainly not improve their opinion of him.

While Quil planned his proposal to Claire, Basti and I were already one step ahead. The date for our wedding was August first, and Emily and Kim had dragged me to a florist in Port Angeles today to choose the flowers for the bridal bouquet and the decorations. I was glad that I had them to help me, because all of this wedding planning stuff just wasn't my thing.

"Come on, Leah. Choose the main flower already!" Emily pleaded. I had been staring at the flowers in front of me for at least half an hour now. The florist had pointed out the meaning of each flower in relation to a wedding and Emily and Kim had told me their preferences, but I just couldn't make a decision.

"I don't know!" I whined.

"Okay, do you have _any _tendencies? There has to be some flowers that you like more than others," Kim said patiently.

"Well… roses, peonies and carnations."

"Alright. Peonies are quite expensive, especially in August because they're not in season. How about a mix of red carnations and white roses?"

She took a few flowers of each kind and held them together in a small bouquet.

"That looks great!" Emily exclaimed.

"Yeah," I admitted with a slight smile, "I think I'll go with these."

Emily sighed in relief and went over to the green extras.

"Any preferences here or shall the florist decide that by herself?"

"Actually I have not only a preference, but a favorite. I loved the ivy decoration you had on your wedding and I think ivy looks good in a bouquet, too. You don't mind if I copy your decoration, do you?"

"No. I'm glad that for once you know what you want," she laughed.

"Alright," the florist said, "I'll make some sample arrangements for our next appointment, which is…," she looked into her calendar, "on Friday in two weeks."

"Thank you," Kim replied, "see you!"

We walked out the shop and I let out a sigh of to prepare for a wedding was more stressful than I ever thought it could be. I always used to make fun of the women who were ripping their hair out over decisions they had to make for their weddings. Right now I just felt like doing exactly the same thing. There was so much to do, and every time I thought I was making some progress there would be more added onto the endless to do list.

"So, since we're already here, shall we check out the wedding gown boutique around the corner?" Kim asked.

"We have an appointment with Silke in an hour. That's nowhere near enough time. I suggest we surprise Seth with a short visit," Emily said.

"But he's coming to the Den tonight anyway," I objected.

The _Wolf's Den_ was Seth and my restaurant. When the Cullens left Forks they funded the Den as a thank-you gift for our – well, mostly Seth's – friendship and support. Since Seth moved to Port Angeles, I've been sending him the paperwork. Other than that I'm practically running the Den alone. The whole pack – retired and active shape-shifters, their families and imprints – always has dinner at the Den together and Seth and Julia join us as often as they can.

"So what? He's your brother and he's moving to the other side of the state at the end of summer!" Emily argued.

"Okay, okay. I just hope we don't break in on a make-out session or, worse, him and Julia having sex."

Emily laughed.

"Come on, that's nothing you haven't seen yet."

"Not of Seth and Julia. Seth has his thoughts under control. Dave though…," I shuddered. The youngest member of the pack was talented when it came to hiding thoughts, but it still hadn't become second nature to him. He had to concentrate on it and after some hours of patrol he often lost that concentration.

"I can't wait to stop phasing," I added.

"Then why are you waiting? Stop it already," Kim suggested.

"I can't. I promised Aaron and Collin."

Embry stopped phasing a year and a half ago. Aaron had become our Deputy Alpha and Collin would become Beta when I retired, and though they both had nine years of experience ahead of me, they relied on my advice.

Four years after I first phased I had managed to stop it and I began to age again. I happily discovered that my menstruation came back. I fell in love, married, and had twin daughters who are twelve now and a son who would be five in a week. But my husband and I grew apart. He became addicted to alcohol and four years ago, when I found out that he had cheated on me for two years, I lost it. I got so angry that I phased without warning, and it happened right in front of my ignorant husband. When I had managed to calm down enough to phase back, I kicked him out and scared him to death to keep him from revealing my secret. I haven't seen him since.

Three years ago Seth imprinted on Julia Reichenbach, a German girl whose mother, Silke Reichenbach-Finch, had married an American and owned a bakery in Port Angeles. On Christmas her two cousins from Germany came for a visit and I, Leah Clearwater, the first and probably last female shape-shifter ever who nobody had believed to be able to imprint, imprinted on Sebastian Reichenbach. I didn't have much time to win his heart because he and his sister were only staying two weeks and I was afraid to annoy him by practically stalking him. He took it lightly though and my strange behavior didn't seem to puzzle him at all. When it was only one day till his departure, I was devastated. I didn't know how to make him stay and I already thought of flying to Germany after him, when he dumbfounded me by saying that he knew what I was, what had happened the second we met and that his sister would be flying home without him.

The Reichenbachs turned out to be a German family of shape-shifters. Although Basti himself hadn't phased when he reached the right age, he still carried the gene and his father had told him the family secret and everything related to it. Julia carried the gene, too, which explained why Seth and I would both imprint on blood-related pale-faces.

Basti and I had planned to take it nice and easy, but soon discovered that we both weren't able to. We had been crazy about each other and that state hasn't changed at all during the last two and a half years. I was happier than I've ever been before. I looked forward to the kids we'd have. Although I knew how much work and trouble "only" three kids already caused, I wanted to have at least two more with Basti. I don't think the first one will be a long time coming as soon as I stop phasing. Basti's and my relationship is very physical, if you know what I mean.

We had reached the huge house that Seth usually shared with Edward, Bella, Alice and Jasper, but they were in Norway for the summer, visiting Jacob and Nessie who were studying in Oslo. Seth wasn't home and so we walked to _Reichenbach's_, Silke's bakery, instead, where we found not only Silke, but also Julia and Seth.

"Lee-Lee!" Seth cheered. Today was obviously a good day since he almost acted like the optimistic little brother I used to know. Four years ago he, Paul and Dave had been captured by a large, powerful vampire coven. They had tortured them mercilessly. We had to wait for reinforcement before we could try to save him. The coven planned to dispossess the Volturi of the power over the American vampires. Therefore, not only did the Cullens and Denalis come to help us, but Jane, Alec, Felix and Demetri did as well. We hadn't protested against their willingness to help too much since we needed all the help we could all this support, the rescue was a walk in the park. However, it was still too late to save Paul alive and Seth unbroken. Dave was lucky, because one of the vampires had a talent to make people forget. But his talent didn't work on Seth, leaving my baby brother with PTSD and a radically changed personality. Julia helped him a lot. Before he met her, he hadn't been able to smile properly anymore, let alone laugh. She taught him how to be happy again and his nightmares don't occur as often anymore.

Seth hugged me and his eyes sparkled.

"Good to see you too, little brother," I chuckled, "what's up?"

We sat down at the small table in the bakery. Julia sat down on Seth's lap to make room for us.

"Silke invited me to join them on their family vacation to California! It's going to be awesome!"

Julia smiled at him, amused about his excitement. I could understand him though. We had gone on vacation with our parents a few times, but we had never left Washington, except for the few times we crossed the Canadian border as wolves. I had no reason to envy him though, because Basti and I planned our honeymoon to be in Marathon, Florida.

"That's very kind of you, Silke," I stated.

She shrugged it off.

"It's not that big of a deal, actually. Ben has a lot of college work to do this summer and we had already booked for four people. And I know how much Seth always misses Julia when we take her with us on vacation."

Ben was Julia's stepbrother. The Finches/Reichenbachs always went on vacation for two weeks in the summer. Seth had been craving for Julia to return in the past two years. He always fell back into his "broken soul" mode, meaning that he was quiet and depressed, couldn't sleep through a single night without a bunch of nightmares and he never laughed either.

"Okay, Leah, this is a photo album of wedding cakes I've already made and here are some pictures of wedding cakes that I've seen and would like to try. These are just examples though. You can choose the type of cake from one of the pictures, the decoration from a second and the structure of a third. Of course you can also come up with your own ideas. And here's a brochure with different cake toppers, mainly brides and grooms, but also hearts, roses, rings and a few others. You can take all of these home and let Basti have a look, too. Unless you want to make the decision on your own."

"He said he was okay with anything as long as there's at least one other color apart from white. However, I'll ask him for a more detailed opinion. I already picked the flowers on my own – well, not all alone, Emily and Kim helped me with that. A _lot_," I laughed.

Emily chuckled.

"Do you have any questions on the cakes? Because otherwise I'll head home and do some paperwork," Silke said.

"Uh, yes, actually I have one question. Which price range do we have to expect?"

"None. The cake will be our wedding gift."

I gawked.

"What? N-no," I stammered, "I can't accept that. That's too much!"

"It's okay, Leah. A big part of the usual price for a wedding cake is for the working hours rather than the material. And I love my work so the working hours aren't really work for me. Plus, Julia's going to help me. It's really not that big of a deal."

I sighed unsatisfied.

"I'll discuss with Basti if we can really accept that."

"Whatever, I'll refuse to take money from you for the cake. Since we've established that, I'll head home. Can I expect you for breakfast tomorrow, Julchen?"

"No, Mom. We're staying in La Push until Sunday, remember?" Julia said a bit annoyed.

"Oh, right, I forgot. Tell Basti I said Hi, Leah, okay? Bye, everyone!"

She left in a rush.

"Alright," Julia started, "Susan is going to close the shop later, so I'm free to leave. Shall we go?"

All five of us got into my old Buick Verano and I drove us to La Push. During the ride Seth asked, "Have there been any vampires around recently?"

Seth had retired along with Embry.

"No, none," I replied, "It's been a year, can you believe it? As if every vampire in the U.S. has heard of us by now and is scared to come across us. We've reduced the patrols to a minimum. It's just one wolf at once, so everybody has to patrol only three hours per day."

"I hope they stay away for several more years," Emily sighed. Her son Adrian was fourteen and she didn't want him to become a shape-shifter and carry the burden entailed by being a protector.

"You know the pack wants him to phase, don't you? He's the rightful Alpha."

"No, he's not! Jacob's kids should have been the next Alphas. Just because Sam was one when Jacob didn't want to be one, doesn't mean the heritage went over to the Uley family. If anyone is rightful next Alpha, it's Noah."

We had had that discussion several times before. Noah was Paul's and Rachel's son and just a year younger than Adrian. Rachel lived in Hawaii with her kids, but she came to La Push every Christmas. Although Noah, being the great-great-grandson of Ephraim Black, nephew of Jake and inheriting the gene from both his parents, seemed to have the best background an Alpha could have, every current and former pack member had agreed that Adrian seemed to have the better Alpha disposition. Noah had inherited the infamous Lahote hot temper. In his school in Hawaii, he was a loner, while Adrian was the most popular guy of his age and leader of his clique at the tribal school. Noah and his younger sister Lily didn't get along well while Adrian was very protective and caring of his younger sister Emma.

Emily believed that Noah would change once he first phased and that he would be the bigger wolf and therefore the rightful Alpha. We had given up trying to convince her of the obvious. Maybe the vampires would stay away and Adrian wouldn't phase. None of us believed that Hawaii attracted that many vampires and when Jake had visited his sisters he had never smelled even a faint vampire trace, so Noah would most likely not phase, which made the whole discussion somewhat pointless. Anyway, who was I to judge Emily? My greatest fear was that my daughters would phase. Of course Jayden could phase, but I didn't worry about him, he was a boy after all. However, the girls… I really didn't want this for them. Boys' minds are just disgusting and annoying and the nudity that comes with phasing is not easy to get used to. Besides, there's a reason why fighting is a man's business in most human cultures. June might be tough enough to be a wolf, but sweet innocent Janelle wouldn't be able to handle it.

* * *

_This story is starting out a little slower than my other stories. In the next chapter the actual events of this story will start to take their course. Please give it a try._

_I'm going to update this story about twice a week. Most of it is already written, but I still need my beta to look over it. Next update is going to be on Saturday, maybe Friday._

_I love reviews, no matter if they're signed or anonymous. So please review and let me know what you think!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for reviewing, following and favoriting, WolvePackForever!_

_Mrs Calearohte, well, since you said you'd read the sequel, I can thank you for your last review for Sunny Side Up here. I hope you'll like this story, too._

_Thanks to my beta Tragically Magical!_

* * *

**Not So Secret Secrets**

-Chad's POV-

Tuesday, June 11

I was in the shooting gallery with my partner and best friend outside of the pack, Troy Crowley. The shots of our handguns were only slightly dampened by the ear protectors. I pulled off the uncomfortable earmuffs and grinned. Troy pulled his off too, but he looked rather frustrated.

"How do you always do that? That's not supposed to be possible!" he complained. He was referring to my target which had one single hole in its bull's eye. He knew that none of my bullets ever missed the target, and by now he should be used to seeing every one of them going through the same hole the first one made.

"Experience, …" I started to list but he cut me off.

"I have as much experience as you do!"

"Good eye sight and a very calm hand," I continued.

"Still, it's not possible!"

"I don't know why you get so upset about it. You have no reason to be jealous. You're a very good shooter, too. Besides, you know that you'll always be able to rely on my accuracy. Which reminds me of that day three years ago. If I weren't such a skilled shooter, you'd probably wouldn't be standing next to me right now," I replied calmly.

"You really didn't have to bring that up, you know."

"Then stop complaining."

"Then start to make more holes into your targets!"

"Okay," I said and put the protectors back on. I aimed shortly and shot six times.

"Better?" I asked with an even wider grin. There were six holes now, one in the center of bull's eye and the others in a perfectly straight line above it with less than a millimeter between each one. Troy rolled his eyes and laughed.

"You should try shooting as a professional sport. You would win every title available, including world champion and Olympic champion. You'd be rich and popular and you'd get to see the world!"

"I'm not interested in popularity. Plus, I like La Push. There's no better place on earth," I replied with a reassuring smile.

"I highly doubt that. There are a lot of places with much better weather. I know you like the forest. But believe me, there are other forests that bathe in sun on more than ten days per year."

"Well, I like this one best, so I'm staying here. I can't make you even more jealous by leaving, can I? And who would keep you sane when I'm gone? Greg?" I scoffed. Troy had always wanted to leave Forks. His older brother Tyler had moved to San Francisco after his graduation and had left Troy to stay with their blind mother. She completely depended on him, and didn't want to move to an unfamiliar neighborhood where she wouldn't be able to move a single step alone.

"Actually I'm going to leave next year. Mom agreed to move when she turns sixty five. I'll have saved up enough money to buy her a seeing-eye dog, which is the only way that she'll take on the challenge of a new environment."

"You're leaving?" I asked, shocked. I had always known that he would move as soon as his mother was dead – which of course he wanted to be later rather than sooner – but I had expected to have him as my partner for another decade or so.

"Yes, finally. I'm sorry, Chad. You know I always wanted to get out of here. I became a police officer because I wanted to solve crimes. Real crimes. I always felt up to challenges. Chastising teenage drinkers and parking offenders is hardly a challenge."

"I know. You think Forks is boring and it kind of is," he cut me off again.

"Kind of? Come on, it _definitely_ is boring."

Not if you were a shape-shifter, is what I wanted to say, but he wasn't one.

"… but I'll miss you nonetheless."

"I'll only move to Seattle, so we can still see each other sometimes. Anyway, you have to endure me another year so don't start getting all sentimental now."

"Okay. I promise you it will be the most exciting year you'll ever have. We'll have fun and there will be action, too. I've never asked you before: Have you ever been cliff-diving?"

"Uh, no, and I'm not sure if I ever want to try it."

"Alright. First free and warm day in August we'll have an appointment with the cliffs."

"I really appreciate your effort, but I still think cliff-diving is not the sort of action I'm looking for."

"Coward," I teased. The door to the main room of the police station opened and Charlie peeked inside.

"Chad, I found something in the police reports of Hoquiam that you might want to see."

Troy rolled his eyes. Charlie rarely found evidence of vampire attacks in the police reports of the neighboring police departments, but Troy suspected that we hid something from him since I always got alarmed while he never found anything suspicious in the reports. He knew it had something to do with my tribe and I was grateful that he never pried and accepted our tribal secrets. I followed Charlie and he eased my nerves by saying, "It's not what you think. A Quileute boy who lives in Hoquiam got into a severe fight with some class-mates. They were four and he was alone, yet he doesn't even have a scratch, while his opponents suffer from broken noses and countless bruises. A witness said he acted in self-defense, so he's probably getting away with a few hours of community service. I asked for photos. Here, have a look yourself."

His monitor showed the portrait of a teenage boy, probably about sixteen or seventeen years old and clearly Native American. He was buff and the scale on the wall behind him indicated that he was about six foot two, which wasn't exactly normal for a kid his age.

"What's his name?"

"Hayden Fox. His parents moved to Hoquiam ten years ago."

"Do we have his parents' phone number?"

"Yes. Here."

I pulled my cell phone out and dialed the number. I left the building before I pressed the green button. I didn't need any listeners.

"Hello?"

"Hello, um, Mr. Fox?"

"Yes, that's me. And who are you?"

"Chadwick Sykes, Sir, I'm…," he cut me off.

"A protector, I know. I remember you. What a coincidence that you're calling! I was planning on coming to La Push this weekend to talk to Sam Uley. I'm worried about my son."

"I can imagine that. I saw the police report and photos of your son. That's why I'm calling, actually, so it's not that big of a coincidence."

"So you think he's showing the symptoms, too?"

"Symptoms?" I repeated. It was to be expected that the Quileutes who weren't in on the secret would notice that every single one of the La Push protectors had undergone a drastic change before they suddenly dumped their old friends and started hanging out with Sam's _gang_.

"Yes, you know, grow fast, develop muscles without working out much, and today his temperature went up but he's not feeling sick. How much time do you give him?"

"I can't quite follow you. He's got the potential for a protector. I thought that was what you meant by symptoms. What do you mean by how much time do I give him?"

"Okay, I assume you're still ignorant to the fact that your secret is not as much of a secret as you might have thought. So I'm going to name it. How long until my son grows fur?"

I nearly dropped the phone and was at a loss for words.

"Who else knows?" I finally choked out.

"Basically the majority of grown-up Quileute. At least ten years ago it was like that. I don't know if those who were kids back then got to know it when they came of age. But I'd say about eighty percent of the Quileute population above thirty know."

"How?" I questioned, my heart beating rapidly.

"Well, someone knew the actual legends and every one of us have eyes and a brain, so…"

"Nobody ever said a word."

"Well, you kept it a secret for a reason. We also have a suspicion about what you're protecting us from and that's something one can assume, but doesn't want to know for sure."

"Wow, that's… unexpected news. However, back to the main topic. Hayden is most likely becoming one of us. The fever is a sign that he could phase anytime now. If you came on the weekend it could already be too late. Make him pack and come here. Do you have any relatives on the reservation where he could stay? If not, we can certainly arrange something. Does he know?"

"No, I… I wasn't sure and I don't even know how to tell him."

"That's understandable. We'll do that. For now you'll have to find an excuse why he's going to stay in La Push for a while. He cannot get upset about it. Anger triggers the phasing and I'd rather have him phase on the reservation."

"Y-yes, I can do that, I think. He'll need some time for packing, so I guess we could be in La Push around nine o'clock."

"Alright. Come to the Den. Everybody's going to be there anyway."

"Okay. Thank you. Can… can I ask a question?"

My eyebrows furrowed, "Um, sure."

"Does it hurt?"

"No. It's not exactly comfortable either, though. Don't worry, your son will be alright."

"What – what if he does get angry?"

"He will start shaking before he actually phases. If he does, get some distance in between you and him. He won't attack you. But, as I said, I'd prefer that he phased under our supervision. If you cannot come up with an excuse as to why he should stay here that wouldn't make him angry, then don't tell him that he'll have to stay. One of us can take him back to Hoquiam on Saturday so that he can get his stuff."

"I'll do that then. We'll be there in two and a half hours."

"Alright. I'm at work right now, but I'll try to leave early. I'll call Sam and tell him to be at the Den when you arrive."

"Okay. Thanks."

I hung up and dialed Sam's number immediately.

"Chad! What's up?"

"We're about to get a new pack member."

"What? Who?"

"Hayden Fox. He's living in Hoquiam with his parents. I've talked to his father. He already suspected his son to be a shape-shifter. He's taking him to the Den right now. They should be there in two and a half hours."

"Wait. He suspected him to be a _shape-shifter_?"

"Yes. That's another thing we've got to talk about. According to Mr. Fox, the majority of our tribe has known what we are for at least ten years."

"Chad!" Troy called, "Brawl at the diner! We gotta go!"

"Sorry, Sam, work's calling. Meet me at the Den in two hours?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll inform Aaron, too."

"Thanks. See you later."

"Later."

I ran back to the parking lot in front of the police station and climbed into the already running car. Troy pulled onto the street instantly.

"Why do you concern yourself with a Quileute kid who got into a fight in Hoquiam? I thought your tribal law only applies to the reservation. Plus, it was self-defense."

"He has the potential to be a protector," I replied, knowing that he wouldn't dig deeper when the word 'protector' was mentioned.

"He's only sixteen! Whatever you're protecting your tribe from – that can't be something a child should do!"

I guess I stood corrected. He _usually _didn't dig deeper when that word was mentioned.

"I was the same age when I started. We all were, a few were even younger. It won't kill him."

"But it could traumatize him!"

"None of us are traumatized."

I started to get annoyed with him.

"Really? What about Seth Clearwater? He was always known to be a positive, happy-go-lucky sort of person. Now he's always depressed, troubled even, isn't he?"

He pulled into the parking lot of the diner, and I got out of the car without answering him. The brawl was still under way and Troy and I separated the two fighters quickly. One had a bleeding nose while the other one had a laceration on his temple, but other than that they seemed surprisingly fine, considering that the diner looked as if a tornado had hit it.

Several tables were knocked over, chairs were scattered everywhere, some of them broken. The waitress had hid behind the bar. It wasn't lunch time yet, so there were no other guests. Troy struggled to keep one of the men from attacking the other one again. Since mine was being cooperative and rather grateful for the separation, I released my grip on him and helped Troy. The man wasn't able to do anything against my werewolf steel grip and stopped fighting me eventually. Troy put a table and a chair back into place and pulled out his notepad.

"Alright. Names?"

It turned out that they had been fighting over the waitress, one being her ex and the other being her current boyfriend. Just the usual boring small town incident.

When we were back in the car, Troy picked up our earlier conversation to my displeasure.

"So, are you saying Seth Clearwater isn't traumatized?"

"Actually, he's already a lot better. And the trauma didn't come from becoming a protector at a young age. Don't talk about things you don't understand, Troy."

Troy sighed.

"I would try to understand if you let me. I always thought that, one day, I'd be worthy to know the secret. Chief Swan isn't Quileute and he knows it. He already knew it before he started dating Sue Clearwater. We're good friends, aren't we? So why won't you tell me about the most important thing in your life?"

"I'm sorry, Troy. The less people know, the better. I'm not allowed to tell you."

"I wouldn't tell anyone."

"I know," I sighed, feeling conflicted between being a best friend and protecting who I am.

"You wouldn't tell me even if you were allowed to, would you?"

"Probably not. It's complicated. You can't even imagine. I guess that's hard to accept, but I can't change it. Your friendship means a lot to me. It's nice to have someone who isn't in on the secret, if that makes any sense."

"It does, I guess. I owe you my life, Chad. And I always trusted you despite your secrets. Just because I'm upset that you don't seem to fully trust me doesn't mean I'm breaking off our friendship."

"But I do trust you."

"Well, not enough."

"I'd trust you with my life!"

"Whatever. Forget I even started this topic."

We were back at the station and although Troy had closed the topic the tension was still there. Even Charlie seemed to sense it, since he raised his eyebrows at us. I went straight to him as I didn't have much time left until I had to be at the Den.

"Hey, Charlie, mind if I take the rest of the day off? Hayden Fox is on his way to La Push."

"No problem. Everything alright between you and Troy?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Thanks."

* * *

_Next update on Tuesday. PLEASE review, that one little review I got for the first chapter feels so lonely without any company!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks a lot for your review, WolvePackForever! What would I do without you? I would probably be totally frustrated right now._

_Thank you for favoriting, following and betaing, Tragically Magical!_

_Sorry for the delay, my beta is quite busy and I didn't want to post the chapter without her improvements._

* * *

**Pretty Cold Comfort**

-Leah's POV-

Tuesday, June 11

Sam, Aaron, Chad and I were sitting at one of the tables in the Den, waiting for Mr. Fox and his son. I still found it hard to believe that most adults on the reservation knew what we were.

"I've sent Collin and Sky South to see if there are fresh vampire tracks around Hoquiam. We'll go back to patrolling in pairs of two for a while. I already told Dave to join his brother and keep a special eye on the southern border," Aaron announced.

It was unlikely that the vampire who had triggered Hayden's gene to surface was still in the area, but we couldn't take any risks.

"Good," Sam acknowledged, "Chad, since you already talked to him, could you question Mr. Fox about the things he knows and the other Quileute who know?"

Chad nodded. He seemed deep in thought and kind of absent.

"Chad. You alright, man?" Aaron asked. Chad looked at him and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I am. Troy and I had an argument today, that's all. I wish I could tell him."

Aaron mustered him and then turned to look at Sam. Chad followed their exchange of looks and shook his head.

"Don't allow me to tell him. We never know how someone reacts. Troy and I have been friends for more than ten years and he trusts me, but he could easily freak out and be scared of me when he finds out. He's moving to Seattle in a year anyway."

"Okay," Aaron agreed sympathetically. An old grey Ford pulled into the Den's parking lot.

"Here they come," I announced, feeling wary of what was about to happen.

"Try to clear your head, Chad. Focus on the task at hand now," Sam ordered. Chad rolled his eyes and nodded. We all got up as Mr. Fox and his son entered the Den. Hayden was taller than his father. His posture – drooped shoulders, bowed head and nervous eyes that avoided direct eye contact – didn't match his new muscles, and his height only made his stance look awkward. I could tell that he was the type of guy who was withdrawn from most of the world and had low self-esteem. Maybe he used to be bullied before his change.

Mr. Fox approached us without hesitation and extended his hand out to us one after the other.

"Mr. Uley. It's an honor to meet you."

"You're exaggerating. Please, call me Sam."

Mr. Fox smiled and nodded, turning to Chad next.

"Mr. Sykes. You still look the same. I guess you really don't age, do you?"

"Not as long as I don't want to," Chad chuckled.

"Mr. Chavis, isn't it? Not a day older either," Mr. Fox asked Aaron.

"Aaron," he corrected and shook his hand.

"And Mrs. Clearwater-Reed. How are your twins?"

"Very well, thanks. They have a brother now. And it's just Clearwater, actually. I'm divorced. However, you should have noticed by now that we aren't in favor of formality. Call me Leah."

"Well, this is my son Hayden," he said motioning his son to come closer, but the boy took a step backwards instead.

"What's this about, Dad? A tribal elder and the police?" Chad still wore his uniform because he hadn't had the time to change, "Did I break a tribal law or something? I just defended myself! They started the fight!"

He started trembling slightly.

"Calm down, Hayden," Sam ordered with authority, "we just want to help you."

Chad pulled Mr. Fox to the side to get him out of his son's reach in case he phased.

"I don't need any help!" Hayden objected, "I'm perfectly fine and sane! And I don't have any anger issues either! We're going home, Dad. _Now."_

Mr. Fox looked crestfallen.

"You can't go home, Hayden," Sam reasoned, "We've got to talk."

"I don't want to talk! There's nothing to talk about!"

Guess I was wrong. He couldn't be nearly as withdrawn as I thought he was.

"Really? You know you've grown exceptionally fast over the past weeks. You gained muscles that boys your age are hardly able to get even when they work out all the time. And you don't work out much, do you?" Sam questioned, "Let me take a guess: Half a year ago you were slender, rather small and weak. Someone nobody thought capable of winning a fight. The victim rather than the bully. Now you're tall, buff and strong, easily capable of fighting off four other guys," Sam paused for a moment to see how Hayden was taking all of this in. From the look on his face I figured Sam nailed everything on the head, "They've bullied you for years, haven't they? Yesterday they teased you because it looks like you're trying to fit in by working out. You got angry. And you were sick of being the victim."

Hayden folded his arms over his chest.

"So what?"

"Your growth spurt and the muscle gain isn't normal, Hayden. You know that yourself. Neither is the temperature you're running. That's why we have to talk."

"I don't take steroids!" he yelled and his shaking increased.

"Nobody said you did. We know you don't. _Calm down!_ We all went through the same. We grew fast and gained muscles without working out. We constantly run a high temperature. We're stronger and faster than humanly possible. There's a reason for that."

Hayden seemed to calm down slightly. Yet he was still cautious about whether or not he wanted to accept our help.

"You haven't always gotten angry this easily, have you?" Sam asked, "Nor did you start shaking when you got upset. It's hard to understand now, but you really need our help. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Trust me, I know what it's like to go through that and not have any help. I was the first one it happened to and I was alone. It was a nightmare that became real. You don't want that."

Even with help it was a nightmare that became real, but I didn't dare tell Hayden that.

"Okay, I'll listen to what you have to say, but it better be convincing."

Sam sighed in relief.

"Good. Let's go to the back room."

Aaron and I followed them while Chad held Mr. Fox back.

"I'm sorry, but that's private," he told him. I closed the door behind us and sat down next to Aaron.

"Well," Sam began, "Do you know the legends of our tribe, Hayden?"

"I heard them as a kid, but I can't remember much. Why?" his eyes narrowed at all of us.

"Do you remember the one about wolves?"

"Um, they say we descended from wolves, right?"

"Yes, that's what they say, and it's true. We're part wolf."

Hayden raised his eyebrows.

"Ever heard of evolution?" he scoffed, "Apes are the only animal mankind is distantly related to. _Apes_ not wolves."

"Yes, that's true. The wolf came into our bloodline long after our ancestors settled on this land. I could tell you the whole legend of how we became what we are, but I'll cut it short and you'll hear the rest later. Our ancestors were able to travel the spirit world, meaning that their spirits could leave their bodies and travel the lands without being seen by other humans. They could talk to animals and control the winds. One day, a warrior stole the body of the chief, Taha Aki, and killed his own body so that Taha Aki was doomed to stay in the spirit world for the rest of eternity. He was desperate, but then he met a large wolf who was willing to share his body with him. Later, Taha Aki got extremely angry. The wolf wasn't used to intense human emotions. Therefore, they transformed into a man who resembled Taha Aki's spirit. From that day on, Taha Aki was able to phase into a wolf whenever he wanted to. The man and the animal had become one, a unity. They were strong and fast and they didn't age. When Taha Aki's sons reached manhood, they, too, were able to phase into wolves. Nowadays, a lot of Quileute carry the gene, but they don't phase into wolves. I used to phase. Aaron and Leah still do it every day. And you'll soon join them."

Hayden looked at Sam as if he doubted his sanity.

"Look at the pictures on the walls. Those aren't normal wild wolves. That's the Quileute pack of shape-shifters. The black one, over there, that's me. The small gray one is Leah. And the yellowish brown is Aaron."

Hayden looked around the room, but not at the photos.

"Where's the candid camera?"

"There is none. You are going to be a shape-shifter, whether you like it or not."

"Shape-shifters don't exist. That's not even possible!"

"You're running a fever without feeling the slightest bit sick. That's supposed to be impossible. Gaining muscles without working out is also supposed to be impractical. Do I have to continue?"

"These things are_hardly_possible. Me turning into a beast at the next full moon and running around killing people, that is_im_possible."

"That's improbable, but not impossible. We aren't werewolves, we're shape-shifters. We don't need a full moon to phase. The first phasing is triggered by anger and after that we can phase whenever we want to or when we get angry again. We don't run around killing people. In public, we call ourselves protectors and that's what we do. We protect our tribe and our friends outside of the tribe."

"And what are you protecting them from? Other shape-shifter packs?" he still didn't believe it.

"No," Sam sighed as if he were getting frustrated, "Do you remember the stories about the Cold Ones?"

"Faintly. Aren't they supposed to be some sort of vampires?"

"Exactly."

When Sam didn't say anything else, Hayden put an expression of total disbelief on his face.

"Of course, vampires," he nodded, "It was… weird to meet you. I'm going," he declared while getting up quickly. Aaron pushed him back into his chair.

"You're staying. We can't risk you phasing in the middle of Hoquiam," he said, determined.

"You guys should really consider contacting a psychologist. You're crazy."

Sam started pushing the tables and chairs to the wall to make room.

"Leah. Mind proving our point?" he asked. Actually I did mind. However, I just showed my displeasure with a sigh and went into the middle of the free space. Aaron and Sam turned their backs to me and Aaron placed himself right in between Hayden and me to block his view. I slipped out of my shoes, let my skirt fall to the ground and stripped out of my top. I looked down at me shortly. The slip I could relinquish, but the bra was my favorite. I turned around in case Hayden peeked and got rid of the bra. Then I concentrated on phasing and only just managed not to crash one of the pictures on the wall with one of my front paws. I turned around and Aaron stepped to the side to let Hayden see me completely. His eyes were wide with shock and his hands clasped the chair so hard that his knuckles turned white and the wood audibly creaked.

'That's the new one?' Collin, who was on patrol, asked.

'Yes,' I confirmed.

"Try not to break the chair, please. Leah can be quite scary when she gets mad," Aaron advised.

'That's right,' I chuckled.

Hayden could hardly look away from me and down to his hands. He released his grip and turned back to eyeing me. His heart was beating rapidly.

"So, do you still think we're crazy?" Sam questioned. Hayden didn't answer. His gaze wandered from me to my picture on the wall, back to me and then went on to Sam's and Aaron's wolf pictures. Bored, I lied down and hoped that he would regain his ability to speak soon.

"I-is she r-real? Can I, uh, touch her, just t-to make sure?" he stammered.

"Well, ask her if you can," Sam replied.

"Can she even understand me?"

"Of course she can. She's still Leah."

"Oh, well, okay, so, Leah, may I touch you?"

I got up and walked over to him. I poked his arm with my snout and retreated back. He flinched at the touch. Fear replaced the shock in his eyes. I picked up my clothes with my teeth and ran upstairs to change back. When I returned fully dressed, Hayden had buried his face in his arms on the table and muttered unintelligibly. Aaron had his hand soothingly on his shoulder.

"You don't have to be afraid, Hayden. We told you we'd help you, remember?" I said softly.

"I'm a monster!" he cried.

"No, no, no, you're not! We don't kill humans, we protect them," I corrected.

"Can somebody please wake me up? This is a nightmare. This can't be real."

"It's not as bad as you think," Aaron said, "Being a shape-shifter is pretty cool, actually. We have a lot of fun together."

Hayden shook his head.

"I never wanted to be anything but normal! I wished I could stand up against my classmates and now I can, but if I had known the price I would have to pay I would have gladly remained the withdrawn nerd who everyone picked on."

"We would all like to be normal sometimes, but it's no use to complain about it. You've got to face it and accept it. It's who you truly are. It's your fate. Vampires exist, that's a fact, and knowing that, you can be glad that you're not normal. You're able to defend yourself and your beloved. You're not a weak human who would be helpless in a face-to-face encounter with a vampire."

"That's pretty cold comfort."

* * *

_I won't make any promises this time, but I'm planning to update this weekend.  
_

_Please leave a review! Don't hesitate to tell me what you didn't like, or what you liked. It would make me really happy._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for your review, WolvePackForever! A shout out would be so great, thanks :) I expected that this story would get less attention than my others, but it makes me sad nonetheless._

_Thank you for following, Daisy323!_

_Thank you very much for following and favoriting, multiple times even, Trina Tiffany!_

* * *

**Treacherous Yearbook**

-Leah's POV-

Sunday, June 30

Hayden phased for the first time nearly a week ago. He struggled to get the phasing under control. He got angry with himself all the time and phased involuntarily, which made him even angrier and made it difficult for him to phase back. He also seemed to be the least talented out of all of us when it came to hiding thoughts. I spent hours with him, trying to teach him how to suppress the phasing. Embry, who had developed the technique in the first place and taught it to all of us, patiently tried to teach him how to shield his mind.

About a month ago a TV crew had visited La Push. They were shooting a documentary and interviewed Seth and me about the success of the Den. That had been fun, but later they came back and subtly hinted at our lack of aging which, unfortunately, was not a secret in Forks. I had refused another interview and pretended that I had to work which was only half-true.

Today was the day the documentary would be showed. We gathered in the back room of the Den where Basti had moved our flat screen. It was late afternoon and there were no guests at the moment. Basti switched the channel to KCTS 9. The promo trailer for the show was running, showing short clips of different Native American Tribes. Ours showed the full parking lot of the Den and First Beach.

"_Native American Tribes Today_. In a jiffy on KCTS 9. And right afterwards _Native American Tribes Today Special: The Secrets of the Quileutes_," the reporter announced while two pictures of Seth appeared on screen, one titled '2010', the other 'today'. We stared at each other in shock. Had they just speculated about the reason, or had they found out the real reason?

"Okay, let's stay calm, everybody," Sam ordered, "Let's wait for their story to see how much they've figured out. It's unlikely that they know or even believe what we are."

We watched impatiently while the show investigated the life style of today's Quinaults, Makahs and the three tribes living on the Port Madison reservation. Finally, the part about our tribe started with an aerial view of the reservation along with the surrounding forests, the Quileute River and the beach.

"The Quileutes are a rather small tribe compared to the other tribes presented on this show," the reporter said, "The reservation, which is located at the coast west of Forks, is currently inhabited by 384 people, with less than one percent of the population including those who are not Native American. To have such a small amount of people who are not Native American living on a reservation is very rare, but it seems to have its reasons. More on this topic later. First, let's have a look on how they live. Like their ancestors, a lot of Quileute go fishing for a living. There is also a Tribal School and a Public Health Clinic on the reservation. The highest income is currently made by the Clearwater family.

Leah Clearwater and her brother Seth own a restaurant called _Wolf's Den _which is famous all over the Olympic Peninsula. It became popular not only because of its excellent local specialties, but also because of its different portion sizes. You can order your steak either 'human size' if you're an average eater or 'wolf size' if you're as hungry as a wolf. The Kid's menu offers a third size, the 'puppy size'. The wolf is important to the Quileutes. They believe that they descended from wolves and therefore it's against tribal law to kill them. Now back to the strangely low amount of Non-Indians. The Quileutes like to keep to themselves and they're quite secretive. There are bonfires at the beach, to which only invited tribal members are allowed. Outsiders are unlikely to get to know the legends of the tribe. We dug deeper, sensing that they have a good reason to keep secrets. And we were right. Stay with us for _Native American Tribes Today Special: the Secrets of the Quileutes_ to get to know what we found out from our interviews with inhabitants of Forks and searching the Tribal School's archive. You won't believe your eyes and ears."

Again the two photos of Seth showed up and he groaned.

"Why me?" he muttered.

"Because you and Leah are best known outside the reservation. Leah's lack of age is not as visible, which leaves you as the best research object," Julia explained rubbing his back. Advertisement flickered over the screen before the opening clip of_Native American Tribes Today_reappeared.

"Welcome to a special of _Native American Tribes Today_, Ladies and Gentlemen. The Quileute people, a small tribe that lives on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula, has a secret which might interest scientists and cosmetics companies all over the world. After sensing that they purposely hid something from us when we shot the clip for the regular _Native American Tribes Today _edition, we went to their neighboring community, Forks, and questioned the people on the street what they knew about this small, nondescript tribe."

The camera switched to a picture of Brian Miller, the owner of the gas station in Forks.

"Yeah, the Quileutes are strange. I'm a regular at the _Wolf's Den _and I could swear that Seth hasn't aged a day since the opening."

"Since the opening? Wasn't that in 2008? Seth Clearwater must have been three years old back then."

He laughed.

"Exactly. _Must have been_. Truth is, he was nearly sixteen. And his sister, Leah, is only six years older than him, not twelve years as you might think."

"But that's not possible."

"You're telling me! But these eyes," he pointed to his own, "are still working very well and my brain is as fit as ever. Seth is older than he seems to be. And so are most of these so-called protectors."

"Protectors?"

"Yeah. There's this group of young men who call themselves protectors of their tribe. Don't ask me what they're protecting it from, maybe the wild wolves that they're not allowed to kill," he laughed about his own joke. "It all started with Sam Uley about nineteen years ago. There were rumors that teenage boys suddenly turned their backs to their former friends and joined his gang. Everyone suspected them to do drugs and other illegal stuff. However, the tribe's council members esteemed Sam and his followers and they never got caught by the police. The next two years, the gang grew to over fifteen members and, as far as I know, nobody else has joined it since then. They always sit in the back room of the Den with their girlfriends and wives. Today it seems like the whole tribe esteems them. Whenever you ask a Quileute why they don't seem to age, they shrug it off or claim that they have no idea either."

"Thank you very much for these interesting observations," the camera switched to the yard in front of the tribal school, "We weren't allowed to have a look into the clinic books to find out the actual birth date of Seth Clearwater. He told us he was nineteen. So who speaks the truth? Seth or Brian? We've searched the archives of the local newspaper and found this."

They showed an old newspaper article about the opening of the Den with a photo of me and Seth in the guest room, proudly presenting the menu.

"Of course this is just a tiny photo, but that boy really looks a lot like Seth and he has the same name, too. Just a coincidence? A cousin, maybe, who's incidentally called Seth, too? We continued our research in the archives of the tribal school. If Seth had been sixteen in 2008, he would have finished school around 2010 or 2011. In the yearbook of 2009 to 2010, we found him among all of the students his age. Now this photo is better. Compare the Seth in this photo to the one you see with your very own eyes today."

They showed the two photos again.

"We think that can only be the same person or a twin. In the same yearbook we stumbled across other familiar faces. When we visited the _Wolf's Den_, there were friends of Leah and Seth present. For example Collin Littlesea," a photo of Collin appeared on screen, "and that's how he looked as a sophomore in 2010," a photo from the yearbook was added. "We also found the two brothers Aaron and Skyler Chavis, Aaron being a seniorin 2010, Skyler a sophomore, and both still looking the same as they did on the day the yearbook photo was taken."

Their photos also flickered over the screen.

"But it seems like not all of the so-called protectors stopped aging. Sam Uley finished school in 2005, so he should be thirty eight today. We haven't met him personally, but there's an up-to-date photo of him in the fitness center he presently works at. As you can see, he looks as if he could actually be thirty eight, if anything just a few years younger. The whole group of protectors refused to give us any interviews on this topic and the other tribe members pretended not to know the reason for their lack of aging.

One thing's for sure: some Quileutes have the power to stop their aging while others seem to be frozen in time, emanating a fountain of youth quality to them. If there is a kind of recipe for that, it would be a real gift for the cosmetics industry. Scientists might be interested, too, because their lack of aging is not the only strange thing we noticed about the protectors. They all look like male models and although they're not all related, they look like brothers. They're tall without exception, have bodies like body-builders and, when we shook Seth's and Leah's hand we were under the impression that they ran a fever, though they claimed to be perfectly fine. Brian Miller told us that they all run a high temperature, and that they like to run around in nothing but shorts even on the coldest winter days."

The credits started to run over the screen, and all of us sat there in silence.

"That was _Native American Tribes Special _with Megan Baker. Thank you for watching!"

Basti turned the TV on mute. It was quiet for a few minutes as we all tried to process the consequences of this show.

"There are two possibilities," Aaron finally said, "one, nobody believes this to be possible and therefore thinks the show was fake. Two, some believe it or at least want to see the facts themselves. TV stations, newspapers and maybe even scientists would come to La Push, demand to see the yearbooks and the article about the Den's opening, our IDs, birth certificates and whatnot. In that case, we're screwed."

"You could say it's in your genes and you don't know the exact reason or why some restarted aging and others didn't," Ruby suggested.

"Then they'll want to investigate our DNA. They'll discover that we have one more pair of chromosomes than humans. Maybe they'll even find something that's common for wolf genes, but not for human genes," Chad argued.

"You could refuse to give them your DNA," Adrian proposed.

"That would make them even more suspicious."

"We should ask Carlisle if there's anything wolfish about our genes. He's investigated them once, after all," Sam said. Right then Seth's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID before picking up.

"Hey, Alice."

"Seth, have you watched KCTS 9?"

"Yes, we all have. Have you seen something?"

"Well, as you know I can't see your futures all that well, but I searched the decision of some reporters. First, _Native American Tribes Special _is going to be a topic on the news of a lot of TV stations all over the United States tonight. Some will mock it, some will question it, but quite a lot will say that they're going to find out the amount of truth in it. I can see a long queue of TV, radio and newspaper vehicles on the road to La Push tomorrow morning."

"Oh my god."

"That's not the worst yet. John is calling KCTS right at this moment. He'll tell them that Leah is a werewolf."

The guys and I gasped and I balled my fists. The girls couldn't understand what Alice was saying. John was my ex-husband. He was the only outsider who knew our secret.

"Wh-what should we do?" Seth asked desperately.

"Well, first of all you have to ensure that the tribe sticks together. If every Quileute denies that you're shape-shifters and claims that John is a drunkard who only wants to harm Leah, nobody is going to believe him. Humans might believe that you don't age, but shape-shifting is a completely different matter. As for the aging… with the photos, you can't deny it. But you've got to be careful. Nearly all of you have fake IDs and your former IDs have expired. Discuss that with Charlie, maybe you can say that the fake IDs are approved by the police to avoid problems caused by your lack of age. And you should refuse to give blood tests or any other DNA. Be careful that you don't accidentally lose a hair on one of the reporters."

"Won't they get suspicious if we refuse to give our DNA?"

"Yes, but you can't change that. If they discover that you have too many chromosomes, they'll just be even more interested in you. You have to survive this sudden interest and hope that eventually it will fade away."

"And if not?"

"We'll talk about that then."

"So, what should we tell them why we're not aging?"

"Tell them you have no idea, must be in your genes, something like that."

"Okay. Thanks for your advice, Alice."

"You're welcome. Good luck."

"Wait, Alice," Sam intervened before she could hang up.

"When Carlisle investigated Jacob's blood, did he find anything wolfish?"

"He didn't have the equipment to examine the twenty fourth pair of chromosomes in detail. There could be something wolfish in it, but we cannot know for sure."

"I'll take another blood test of Jacob," Carlisle interfered, "and examine it more closely in the university where I sometimes lecture."

"Thank you."

Alice hung up and it was silent for a few minutes.

"Alright. Let's call a tribal meeting," Sam decided, "Aaron and Embry, you and I go from house to house and tell them that everybody over sixteen has to be at the gym of the tribal school in an hour and a half. If they can't leave their kids alone at home they can bring them and Emily, Kim and Claire will babysit them. Girls, use the time until the meeting to flip through the TV channels and search the internet for any signs that our secret is being talked about. Guys, prepare the gym for the meeting. Set up enough chairs and some sort of stage or podium. Aaron, Embry, let's go."

* * *

_Next update probably on Tuesday or Wednesday.  
_

**_Please__ review!_**


	5. Chapter 5

_I am so sorry for the delay! My beta kind of ditched me. I don't want to let you wait any longer, so here's the (uncorrected) chapter._

_Thank you for your reviews, Ciara and 'Guest'! _

_Ciara, your English was perfectly understandable. Chad is actually the main character. He'll have more and longer parts in the second half of this story. Leah is important, too, but she's more of a narrator most of the time._

_ Mrs. Riddle-Longbottom, thank you for favoriting and following!_

* * *

**Time To Talk Turkey**

-Chad's POV-

Sunday, June 30

Every chair in the tribal school's gym was occupied. There were exactly as many chairs as there were tribal members aged sixteen and older, which meant that Sam, Embry and Aaron had managed to get the whole tribe to the assembly. Everyone must have stayed on the reservation tonight, which wasn't a matter of course.

The elders Billy, Old Quil and Sue sat on the low platform together with most of the current wolves, the former wolves and those imprints who were neither under sixteen nor occupied with babysitting. Leah, Zack and Dave were our "guards" – they stood outside the gym and watched that no strangers eavesdropped. Since everybody was gathered, Embry closed the doors and Sam stepped towards the podium. He cleared his throat nervously. I really wouldn't want to be in his place.

"Good evening! Thank you for coming on short notice. I wouldn't have thought that we'd be able to gather the whole tribe, but it seems as if we have a tiny bit of luck left. First, I want to ask who of you has watched KCTS 9 two hours ago."

About half of the tribe raised their hands.

"Okay. For those who haven't watched it: Maybe you've already heard of the documentary series _Native American Tribes Today_. Or maybe you've met the KCTS team that was on the reservation a month ago. The result of their visit was shown this late afternoon. First, they showed nothing unusual. They talked about our public buildings, the most common professions and the success of the Den. But the usual episode was succeeded by a special called _The Secrets of the Quileutes_. And that's the reason we're all here.

A man from Forks hinted that some of us don't age, which unfortunately isn't a secret in this area. They found photos of four of us in the school's yearbook of 2010 and compared them to their present-day looks. They also noticed our similar physiques and our warm body temperature. Luckily they're clueless about the reason for all of this – for now at least. In the past hour ABC, NBC, Fox and KSTW mentioned the program in their news show. Just five minutes ago even CNN discussed the probability that what KCTS 9 said could be true. NBC is the only one who doesn't believe it at all and mocked the show, but all the others are going to do some research on their own, meaning that the reservation will be flooded by reporters tomorrow."

He made a short break and his audience began to whisper amongst each other.

"I am very glad," he continued, "proud and extremely grateful that no Quileute revealed anything when KCTS 9 was here. All these years we thought you were clueless about our true nature. And then Mr. Fox showed up, telling us that ten years ago nearly every adult knew. May I ask what the situation is like today? Who of you knows the reason why we haven't age properly, why we're always running a temperature and never feel cold?"

This time the arms rose more hesitantly. Sam smiled kindly.

"It's alright. We won't bite you for knowing. We're going to spill the secret anyway," he reassured and some more Quileutes raised their arms. In total it might have been three quarters.

"Well, special thanks to you for not telling any pale-faces. Before I can spill the secret for those who don't know it yet, I need you to swear something. We need you to swear to never pass the secret down, not even to your children. The more people know the bigger is the danger that someone goes public with his knowledge and that would certainly get us in trouble. I'll give you a goad, a reason for you to keep the secret. If you think it's our own problem and you don't care what happens if the wrong people get to know what we are, then I say you're wrong," he paused and looked different men and women in the eyes for a few seconds.

"There's a gene that's been passed down in our tribe for generations. I bet nearly every one of you carries it without knowing. The gene doesn't always show itself. It only surfaces when the tribe is in danger and the person carrying it is on the verge of changing from a boy into a man. Your children probably carry it, too. They can be lucky and the danger stays away, letting them live a normal life. But they can also be as unlucky as we were. The gene could surface, destroy the future they've dreamed of and burden them with a responsibility that no teenager should have to carry. For their sake you should keep quiet. Always remember that one day your sons could be one of us. Our secret could be their secret. So I'm asking you to swear. My brothers will go through the lines and listen to your vows."

It took a while until everyone had sworn to keep our secret. The majority was very willing to vow and smiled friendly while others were clearly suspicious or simply intimidated.

"Thank you very much. Now it's time to talk turkey. I assume that most of you have heard the legend about Taha Aki, the last Great Spirit Chief. None of you has heard the original, detailed story though. You've heard the shortened, slightly modified version, because the original gives several clear hints with which any smart person could have seen that we are the same.

Taha Aki was a spirit warrior and chief of our tribe. When he wandered the spirit world one day, another spirit warrior who envied him, Utlapa was his name, possessed Taha Aki's body with his spirit and killed his own body, leaving Taha Aki a prisoner of the spirit world. Taha Aki had no body to return to and he couldn't inform anybody about his precarious situation. In the spirit world, one couldn't talk to humans, only to animals. Utlapa forbid the other warriors to enter the spirit world. He took over Taha Aki's place in the tribe.

Sometime later Taha Aki met a wolf and the wolf invited him to share his body. In wolf form he returned to the village, but he still couldn't talk to his warriors. They noticed the wolf's strange behavior and one of them entered the spirit world to talk to the wolf, despite Utlapa's prohibition. Taha Aki told him what Utlapa had done, but he didn't get a chance to tell the others, because the second he returned to his body, Utlapa killed him.

Taha Aki got extremely furious. The rage was too much for the wolf which wasn't used to intense human emotions. He burst into the shape of a man. He didn't look like Taha Aki's old body, but he resembled his spirit and the warriors recognized him. Taha Aki killed Utlapa and took his rightful place as chief back.

From that day on he was able to transform into a wolf whenever he wished, and he didn't age anymore. When his sons reached manhood, they, too, could phase into wolves. Some of them didn't like the transformation. They stopped phasing and started aging again. After some time, the descendants of Taha Aki didn't phase anymore when they came of age. Only when there was great danger, the gene surfaced again.

This legend isn't just a legend. It's part of our history. Every Quileute protector is a descendant of Taha Aki. Nineteen years ago there was danger that threatened the tribe and the gene surfaced, turning us into shape-shifters."

He let the truth sink in. Although most of them had claimed to know what we were, the majority looked shocked. I guess thinking to know the truth and actually hearing the truth first hand were two totally different things.

"You don't have the slightest reason to fear us. When we're in our wolf form, we still have complete control over our body and mind. We would never harm a human. We didn't call us protectors for nothing. We protect the tribe from the danger that caused us to phase in the first place."

"What kind of danger would that be?" a bold man asked.

"Trust me, you don't really want to know."

"Oh, but I think I do," he retorted.

Sam sighed.

"It's another supernatural species. I don't want to specify that any further because there are sensitive women in the room. All you need to know is that we've fought them back successfully in the past nineteen years and won't allow them to enter the reservation in the future either. As long as our secret stays a secret, you are completely safe within the reservation boundaries. If our secret is revealed, I'm afraid we'll have to go underground because the pale-faces won't believe that we're harmless. Even if they did, they'd want to examine us. None of us wants to be a guinea pig."

A girl, who looked sixteen, seventeen tops, raised her hand hesitantly.

"Yes?" Sam asked her.

"Would you show us? I mean, it's hard to believe that you can really turn into a wolf. Biologically, that's impossible."

Some people gasped. Others looked terrified by the thought.

"I myself can't phase anymore. I already stopped sixteen years ago in order to age together with Emily. If the majority of you want to see the transformation, we'll have to ask the current wolves if one of them volunteers to show you. So, who of you wants to see it?"

More than the half raised their arms. Others still looked terrified and Sam tried to soothe their fear.

"I can only repeat myself. We're no threat to you, neither in human nor in wolf form. It might actually be a good idea to show you, because that way you can see yourselves that even in wolf form we still know and control what we do."

He turned to us.

"Who volunteers?"

We exchanged cautious glances. Neither of us was keen to make himself an exhibit. Aaron sighed and got up.

"I'll do it."

"Thanks, Aaron."

"Collin, can you get a mat to hold in front of me, so that I don't have to rip my shorts?" Aaron whispered.

"Sure."

Collin jogged over to the equipment room and got a small mat which he placed in front of Aaron. It hid his body from his waist downwards.

"He has to take off his clothes, because otherwise he would rip them when he phases," Sam explained while Aaron stripped out of his shorts. He didn't dither, but phased the second his shorts landed on the ground. Some people flinched, most gasped and a few had raised their hands to their mouths in shock. Collin let go off the mat to reveal the lower part of Aaron's wolf body. Aaron sat down on his hind legs and watched the audience carefully.

"H-how do you want to prove that he has the same control over the wolf as over his human body?" the girl asked Sam shakily.

"Well, I could tell him to do something and he would understand me and do it. How about this? Aaron, why don't you go over to that girl and prove your harmlessness?"

Aaron bared his teeth – the wolfish way to grin – and the girl's eyes went wide with fear. She sat right next to the aisle, so it was no problem for him to get to her. He approached her slowly, ducking his head to seem less intimidating. For the last few feet, he crouched down and crawled the rest of the way. He nudged her leg. She seemed paralyzed and just stared at him with still wide eyes. Slowly his muzzle approached her face. He licked her and she screamed in a very girly, high tone. Aaron flinched back, lied down on the ground and covered his ears with his paws, whining shortly. Someone laughed and the tension that had built in the gym crumbled when others joined in.

The girl's neighbor reached over her friend's lap to pat Aaron. He let her have her way for just a few seconds. Then he got up and went back to the platform. Patting a wolf might seem thrilling to others, but for us it's nearly the same as in human form. We enjoy the touch of people whose touch we enjoy in human form, too, but we don't exactly like to be touched by people we barely know. Collin held the mat up again and Aaron phased back and pulled his shorts on. He looked at the girl who had asked Sam to prove his harmlessness.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but you provoked it."

She blushed.

"Are there any other questions?" Sam asked.

"What's with the girls in your group? Why do you allow some so easily into your group while you keep others at a distance?" a young woman asked who I remembered to have had a fling with Seth. Sam chuckled.

"That's easy. Our soul mates are allowed into our group and get to know all our secrets, while every other girl has to be kept at distance as to not reveal the secret."

"Soul mates!?" she questioned disbelievingly.

"Yes, soul mates. When a shape-shifter looks into the eyes of his soul mate for the first time after his first phasing, she becomes the only one for him forever. We call that imprinting. His soul mate is his perfect match. He'd do anything for her. He wants her to be happy and he is very protective of her. We don't have to imprint on a girl our age. We can also imprint on a child. In that case, no romantic feelings are involved. The shape-shifter becomes a protective brother for her or a friend and only when she is old enough and ready does he fall in love with her."

Brady's mother hesitantly raised her hand.

"Yes, Sage?" Sam asked softly, probably expecting a question about Brady's disappearance.

"What happened to Brady? All you ever said was that he left the reservation."

Nobody of us had understood how Brady could leave without telling his mother. Embry had pestered him to come back, be a good son and say goodbye to her, but he refused to set another foot on the reservation. Even when he came back one year later to help us against a big coven, he didn't visit his mother once.

"We told you the truth. He did leave. His imprint, Brianna, died. She was killed by one of those supernatural creatures that we fight. Brady was devastated that he hadn't been able to protect her. The pain of her loss was hardly bearable. He started living in the woods in his wolf form and wandered over to Canada.

When a shape-shifter is in his wolf form he has a mind connection to the other wolves that allows him to communicate with them. Even when a wolf doesn't send any thoughts over this connection, the other wolves can feel his mind's presence. Three years ago, the pack lost this connection to Brady. Chad and Sky went to Canada to search for him. They found a wolf that looked exactly like Brady, but doesn't seem to remember anyone and he didn't understand any English either. Therefore we're not sure if that really was Brady. That's the only trace they found of him. I'm so sorry, Sage, but it's very unlikely that he'll ever come back."

She wiped away some tears, but she stayed quite calm considering that Sam had just told her that she would never hear or see any sign of life of her son again.

A woman who had babysat Paul when he was a kid asked "Did Paul really die of a brain tumor?"

Sam shifted uneasily. Could the questions get anymore awkward?

"No. He really had a tumor and the doctors had given him only a few weeks left to live, but he was also killed by one of those creatures. But… before you all get scared again: Brianna and Paul have been the only victims in nineteen years, while we killed about sixty enemies. And our enemies have learned to avoid this region. They've made themselves scarce."

Gary Cloud, Olivia's uncle who was a teacher at the tribal school and a well-respected tribe member, stood up.

"I, for my part, will be backing you all the way. Whatever it is you're protecting us from – dask'iyas, cold ones, demons, whatever – hearing how many you have killed, how many have been so close without us even imagining, I can only feel grateful for your presence and your protection. You've been risking your lives for us the past nineteen years without expecting anything in return. It is not only fair, but our duty to support you now. I think I can speak for most of us and I hope I can speak for all of us when I say that your secret is as safe with us as it is with you. We'll do whatever it takes to get the press to stay off our lands and turn their attention back to everyday human problems. Tell us how we can help and we'll do it."

"Thank you Gary," Sam smiled, "That means a lot to us."

* * *

_The Dask'iya is actually part of the real Quileute legends. It's some sort of cannibal ogress that captures children in a basket and eats them._

_Please review!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you for your reviews, Fflamea and WolvePackForever!_

_WolvePackForever, when you don't want to sign in for a review, you could replace the default 'Guest' with your name so that I know that it's you ;)  
_

* * *

**Hopelessness  
**

-Leah's POV-

Monday, July 1

At dinner the next day the TV was running. Basti zapped through the channels and stopped when we were mentioned on CNN news.

"Today the Quileute reservation near Forks, Washington, experienced a crowd of journalists from all over the country and even Canada. The reason for all this attention was a documentary on the PBS station KCTS 9, aired yesterday, that claimed some Quileute tribe members to lack the usual human signs of aging. The group, which calls themselves protectors, consists of at least a dozen men and maybe one or more women, who seem to have outflanked the aging process. The tribe has retreated into silence. They denied us any comments and further research to check KCTS's statements. But we found pictures in the local newspaper's archive and some inhabitants of Forks also offered photos which have been taken ten to twenty years ago. Comparing them to pictures of the protectors that were taken today, one can only agree with KCTS: these Quileutes haven't aged properly, some seem to have aged a bit, others some more and several still look exactly the same as fifteen years ago. In addition, there are other strange characteristics shared by the protectors. They are all tall and have muscular build, raising the question if they might be on steroids. Then there is the extremely high body temperature, which cannot be confirmed for all the protectors yet, but some of them definitely run a fever that would confine any other human to bed, if not killing him. However, the Quileutes run around alive and kicking. Yesterday night, KCTS 9 aired another, even more unbelievable assumption that they themselves couldn't quite believe: John Reed, ex-husband of Leah Clearwater who is the sister of one of the protectors and possibly a protector herself, accused her of being – brace yourself, Ladies and Gentleman – a werewolf! If somebody had told me that yesterday morning I would have laughed in his face. But, considering all the oddities of the Quileutes, it's just a half-hearted chuckle. John Reed claimed that when he broke up with Leah, she got furious and literally burst into a huge wolf, growling at him and scaring him to death. She threatened to come after him if he ever told somebody about her secret. He begged for police protection now that he spilled the 'secret'. Mentioning her ex's words to Leah we could finally get a comment out of her."

The camera switched to a picture of me.

"You know, if I weren't so pissed about all your questions, I would be laughing. Seriously, a werewolf? Come on, that's ridiculous! Werewolves don't exist. That's just European medieval folklore. Only because we believe that we _descend_ from wolves doesn't mean we turn into beasts every full moon. John is a drunkard and a liar and I always suspected him to do drugs, too. He definitely lied straight in your face, because he never broke up with me. _I_ kicked him out when I found out that he cheated on me. If he himself is convinced that he saw me turning into a wolf, it was probably just a hallucination caused by his drugs."

"Then how do you explain your lack of aging and your hot skin?"

"Good genes?" I shrugged and turned away.

"John Reed is currently being checked for drug addiction and mental capacity. I hand over to Robert Bloom who has the sport news for you."

Basti turned the TV mute and zapped to search for other news.

"Well done, Leah. You didn't even really lie," Sam acknowledged.

* * *

Tuesday, July 2

The next morning when I came back from Sam and Emily's where I had dropped off the twins to spend the day with Emma, there was again a crowd of strangers in front of the Den. I braced myself before I got out of my Buick Verano.

"Miss Clearwater!"

"Leah!"

"What are you protecting the tribe from?"

"Why do you run such a high temperature?"

"Miss Clearwater, would you let scientists investigate your genes?"

"The results could be essential for the whole world population!"

"Miss Clearwater, my name is Doctor Ian Roberts. If you could just give me five minutes – I swear the test wouldn't cause you any inconvenience. For the sake of science, please, Miss Clearwater!"

I pushed through the crowd without answering anyone, boiling on the inside. Why couldn't they just leave us alone? And why was the Den their main aim? Hands touched me, though they didn't try to hold me back. I guess they wanted to feel my hot skin themselves to see if that statement had been true. I hated it. Finally I reached the door and unlocked it. Before I entered I turned around.

"Yesterday," the crowd immediately went deadly silent, eager to hear what I'd tell them. However, it wouldn't be anything they wanted to hear. "Yesterday you scared away half of my guests. If you haven't left this parking lot by 5 p.m. today I'll call the police. You're wasting your time anyway."

I stepped into the Den and locked the door behind me to avoid unwelcome guests.

* * *

Monday, July 8

The reporters and scientists heeded my warning and crowded the streets and the beach of La Push instead of my parking lot, but although the tribe continued to refuse any comments and the pack didn't agree to any tests, they stayed persistently. It was annoying. Our every move was being watched and it was difficult to disappear in the woods without being seen. Seth complained that there was also a crowd of scribes in front of his house in Port Angeles. He and Julia moved back in with Embry and Quil. Of course their house was infested with strangers, too. However, there was a small probability that somehow our secret was revealed. In that case it was better for them to be close so that we could all quickly gather and discuss what to do.

I was setting up tables in the Den one week after our lack of aging became public when I heard screaming and shouting from the outside. One look out the window confirmed that our worst nightmare had come true. In the middle of the street, right in front of at least half a dozen running cameras, stood Hayden the wolf. I dashed out the door while Hayden turned on his heels and fled into the woods. The journalists and scientists were in a swivet. As soon as Hayden escaped their view, the cameras turned to me and I retreated back into the restaurant, locking the door behind me. I pulled my phone out and speed-dialed Sam's number while simultaneously calling for Basti and the kids.

"Leah?"

"Sam! We're screwed, we're doomed! It's over! He lost it! Right in front of them! Stupid pup! Fuck, Sam, what shall we do?" my words came thick and fast. My heart was pounding against my chest as if it wanted to hammer a way out of my body.

"Woah, Leah, what are you talking about? I couldn't follow your rant," Sam replied in an alert but calm voice.

"Hayden lost it! He phased in front of running cameras! They know what we are! In half an hour the whole country will know what we are!"

Basti had entered the room and his eyes widened in shock. I felt tears rising and tried to fight them back. I've never been a crybaby and I'd definitely not cry over this. Sam had stayed silent and for a moment I thought he might have fainted.

"Sam?"

"Yes, sorry, I'm still here. I'm just… shocked."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled desperately.

"Alright. We have to stay calm. Where's Hayden now?"

"Ran off into the woods."

"Okay. Go and find him and bring him to the Den. But don't you bitch him, he's probably pretty furious with himself already. Basti and your girls should check the TV and the internet for the first signs of this news. I'll call everyone and we'll gather at the Den to discuss our further actions."

He hung up and I passed his instructions on to Basti before I grabbed a pair of shorts from the back room and ran out the back door to get Hayden. I didn't want to be caught off guard by any journalists, so I ran a total mile into the forest before I stripped and phased.

'Are you insane? How could you? Do you know what kind of consequences that can have?' Zack was on patrol and had obviously not Sam's wits. Hayden whimpered.

'Zack! Leave him alone!' I ordered.

'You wouldn't say that if you knew what he did! He…'

I cut him off.

'I _saw_ what he did! Complaining about it doesn't help us. Sam's gathering everyone at the Den. We'll see how the public reacts to this and then we'll decide what to do. Off to the Den, Zack. Now. Hayden, meet me a mile north of the Den. I've got clothes for you.'

'Okay,' he replied in a weak voice. With Zack and me staying silent, Hayden's uncontrolled thoughts invaded our minds.

'Fucking hell! What have I done? They're all going to hate and despise me! And the humans are going to hunt us down or lock us up…'

'Don't call them humans as if we were something else!' Zack scolded, 'We're human as well.'

'… and I'll never see Mom again. Hell, even if I did she'd be scared to death of me! God, why couldn't my life just stay normal? The teenage worries and problems I had just a month ago were ridiculous compared to this mess!'

'Hayden, calm down,' I thought, 'you're not alone in this mess. This isn't the first seemingly hopeless situation we're facing. Up to today we always got out of them somehow.'

I tried to convince not only Hayden but also myself with these snorted.

'Those other situations where nowhere near as hopeless as this one. And remember the price the last one cost.'

He thought of Paul's death and Seth's broken state. Hayden seemed to mentally start hyperventilating.

'Shut up, Zack!' I scolded.

Hayden emerged from the brushwood in front of me. He kept his head low and his tail between his hind legs. I laid the shorts down and took my own clothes to phase behind the next tree. When I came back, Hayden had dressed as well. He looked crushed. I tousled his hair and he tried to escape my hands, but I grabbed his shoulder and kept him from running. I feared that he might run away to not have to face the others.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. It's not your fault you can't control the phasing yet. But, tell me, why didn't you stay at Sam's?"

"I wanted to practice with you. Sam allowed it! But then I got this text message and I just… lost it," he looked at me completely crestfallen.

"What text?"

"A former class mate sent it. It said, _we always knew you were a freak. Turns out it was to be expected considering your freaky tribe._"

"That guy is going to shit bricks when he sees what you really are. He'll never dare to address you again," I tried to lighten his mood.

"Yeah…" he replied not very convinced.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way out of this."

We had to.

"But the others… they'll despise me! Can't I just kill myself?"

"Suicide is not that easy for shape-shifters. Believe me, I considered it myself a long time ago. And the others won't despise you."

"They will! Zack does!"

"Zack's an asshole. Everyone knows that you couldn't control it. I bet Sam will take on all responsibility for this incident, blaming himself for allowing you to go. Plus, we can always blame the vampires for being the cause of our existence. Come on, let's hurry up. I need to know how the media brings out the news to the public."

* * *

_The wolf is out of the bag! How will people react? Next chapter is going to be dramatic, I tell you that much._

_Please tell me if the cussing in this chapter was too much for a T rated story!_

_Next update on Saturday. Please review!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you so much for your review, WolvePackForever! I already thought I wouldn't get any at all for last chapter._

* * *

**Escape**

-Chad's POV-

Monday, July 8

I was in the shooting gallery again. The mechanism which brought the target forward so that one could have a closer look at it was defective and I tried to repair it. I hadn't found the fault yet. The gallery was soundproof in order that the shots wouldn't disturb the work of the other policemen in the station. That also meant that I couldn't hear anything that happened in the station, despite my improved hearing. Suddenly, I did hear something though. Charlie was yelling. It was still too dampened for me to understand anything. I wondered what had gotten him steamed up like that. He usually was a calm and composed person. It took a lot to make him yell. Five minutes later I gave up my unsuccessful attempt to repair that stuff. I'd call Basti. He was a mechanical engineer, after all. When I entered the station, the conversation my colleagues had been having died down abruptly. They all looked at me alarmed. There was despair and pain and questions in Troy's eyes. I stopped warily. Charlie came out of his office. He had seen me through the glass door. He, too, looked desperate.

"Run, Chad! Leave!" he shouted in the same moment my colleagues got up from their seats and started to approach me. My thoughts were racing. Was our secret blown? Greg – I had never liked him – released the safety catch on his pistol. I slowly approached the window.

"What is this about?" I questioned.

"You're arrested, Sykes," Greg stated.

"Why? Is it forbidden to lack aging?"

"We know that you're a werewolf. Come on, don't be stupid. Turn yourself in and your sentence will be mild."

"What, are you believing John Reed now? You can't possibly believe that I'm a werewolf. I mean, hello? A werewolf?" I scoffed although I wasn't really in the mood for joking.

"There's no use in denying it. One of your friends turned into a wolf right in front of the Den."

Holy shit!

"That doesn't give you the right to arrest_ me_," I tried to defend myself.

"Yes, it does. The superintendent instructed us to arrest all of you. You're a suspect in the unsolved cases of missing people in Forks and in Seattle. Stay clear of the window!" he bellowed the last sentence. He didn't really expect me to obey, did he? I had heard enough. I jumped through the window, shielding my eyes with my hands. Shards cut into my hands, arms and face and covered the ground outside the window. A shot boomed and I felt the breeze of the bullet that barely missed me. I dashed for the woods and considered phasing when a second shot echoed in my sensitive ears and dreadful pain shot into my lower back. The force of the bullet let me fall to the ground.

"Chad!" Troy and Charlie yelled sick with worry. I groaned and grit my teeth. I had to get the bullet out of my back before the wound started healing. Blindly, I reached for the spot on my back that felt as if it was on fire. A small stick caught my eyes and I quickly bit onto it. I heard my colleagues coming through the front door of the station. I had to hurry. I closed my eyes and fumbled for the bullet. Hot blood ran over my hand and the fire in my back felt like it was about to explode. I started to see stars when I finally found the bullet and quickly pulled it out. I staggered to my feet, but I was dizzy and fell back onto the ground. Dark blue trousers with black boots came to stand next to me. I rolled onto my back and stared into the muzzles of three handguns, belonging to Troy, Greg and his partner Oliver.

"Do you surrender or should I aim for your heart next time?" Greg asked menacingly.

I knew – or I at least hoped – that Troy wouldn't shoot me. I ignored the pain in my back and, with one sudden and swift movement, I made a backward roll, kicking the handguns out of Greg's and Oliver's hands in the process. They flew several feet away and I was confident that that would give me the time to escape. Well, I was wrong.

I jumped to my feet and found myself face-to-face with the red nozzle of a pepper spray. Before I was able to react, the jet already hit me. My eyes started to burn intensely and swelled shut in less than a second. I was blind, but that didn't keep me from fighting when hands grabbed my arms and tried to force them together behind my back. Handcuffs clicked around my left wrist. In human form, we're not as strong as in wolf form, although we're still stronger than normal humans. But, having eight hands on my arms, I reached my limits. I tried to kick my opponents in the legs, but that was kind of difficult when you didn't see anything.

Someone – I bet it was Greg – mercilessly punched into my wound that hadn't finished healing yet. I buckled in pain and forgot to fight the grip on my arms for a second. Cold metal touched my right wrist. It clicked again and I knew I had lost. I was handcuffed. I should have phased as long as I was able to. But at first I thought it would be better if I could escape without giving them a proof that I really was a shape-shifter and then I didn't want to hurt Troy in the process.

Not yet willing to give up I continued to struggle against the hold on my arms. Something round and hard bore into my back.

"Stop fighting us or this bullet hits your heart. Would you survive that?"

Truth be told, I didn't know if I would. I caved in and let them lead me back into the station. My irritated eyes were healing and the right one already offered me a slit of sight again. They locked me up in one of the few cells in the back of the station.

"Turn your back to the bars and I'll unlock the handcuffs," Greg said. I hadn't expected that. I thought he'd consider me too dangerous to be released from the handcuffs. Troy had disappeared shortly and returned with a bottle of water and dressing material which he offered me through the bars.

"Thank you," I said grabbing only the bottle. By now, the bullet wound was nearly closed and I only felt a light stab of pain. I used the water to wash the blood away and to soothe the burning and itching of my eyes. I felt my colleagues' eyes on my back. They probably watched the wound healing. I sat down on the hard bench that was supposed to be a bed and returned Oliver's stare until he got uncomfortable and left. I wondered where Charlie had gone to.

* * *

-Leah's POV-

Monday, July 8

Just when Hayden and I entered the Den my phone rang. The caller ID said Charlie.

"Charlie! Is it already in the news?"

"I don't even know what exactly happened, Leah. What I know is that I've just been ordered to arrest Chad and when I refused I got suspended and my deputies tried to arrest Chad. He jumped out the window, but Greg shot him. He's not dead, but the wound interrupted his escape and they pepper sprayed him so he couldn't see properly anymore and they were able to drag him into a cell together."

"Chad got arrested?" I repeated disbelieving, "What the hell is he accused of?"

"He's suspected of repeated murder and cannibalism and he's considered a danger to public. You all are, actually. Since there's no law that werewolves are to be imprisoned, they dug out these old unsolved cases of missing people here and in Seattle and blame them on you. However, my deputies are too scared of you to go to La Push and arrest the rest of you, but I just heard that the army is on its way! The Air Force will fly a platoon from Tacoma to Forks."

"The army?" I choked, "How many is a platoon?"

"84 soldiers."

"When will they be here?"

"An hour, tops."

Words failed me. Sam, who had like all the other shifters heard the conversation, took the phone out of my hand.

"Charlie, this is Sam. Do you know their orders? Will they just attempt to arrest us or," he threw a quick glance at the kids and girls and lowered his voice, "or are they going to take no risk and shoot us from the first?"

"They'll try to arrest you, but since they can't rate you they might quickly be tempted to shoot you if they feel threatened."

"Any chance for us to escape?"

"The roads to the reservation are being blocked right now. You could try and hide in the forest, but that's all I can think of. They'd probably follow you with search dogs in that case so you'll have to be constantly moving and watch that they don't catch up. The kids could never endure that."

"The kids? What? They can't be after the kids, I mean, they're… just kids!" Sam was agitated. The only other time he had ever been so churned up was when he injured Emily.

"They're after all of you who carry Quileute blood and are known to be part of your group. And I don't mean the protectors, I mean your whole group including imprints and kids. Basti, Julia and Ava are the only ones they're not after, because they're obviously white."

"They're after our imprints? What are they accused of? Of not accusing us of our supposed crime? Of help committing the crime?"

"They think they could be werewolves, too, because Leah proved that not only men can be one."

Sam breathed in and out deeply.

"Okay. Can you watch after Chad? Tell him to obey. He should not get himself hurt again by pepper spray, bullets or anything else imaginable."

"Yes, if they let me talk to him, I'll tell him."

"Thanks."

"Good luck, Sam. Get Seth and Leah out of there alive, will you?"

"I'll try my best."

He hung up and went over to Emily, who was trembling with fear. Everyone was gathered and looked at him expectantly. How easily he had fallen back into the role of the leader. He had always advised the current Alpha, but the final word had always been the Alpha's. Now the situation was different. Usually problems concerned just the pack. This problem concerned us all.

"Okay. We won't get us all arrested. We'll hide. They'll probably make tests on Chad and as long as he isn't declared innocent and harmless we will have to stay hidden. Since we don't have much time, we'll make our escape in two steps. First, we split up in smaller groups and hide somewhere close. Then we'll find a place in the wilderness of Canada where we can hope to hide for a longer time. We'll cross the border on the seaway. Zack can take small groups of us with his boat and if his ship is being confiscated by the police, I'm sure we'll find another tribe member who is willing to lend us his boat. But we'll think about the details of the second step later. Those of us who have retired will hide in the Olympic National Forest. We'll constantly move so that they can't follow us with dogs. Emily, you and the kids hide at your parents' house. Nobody may see you arriving and you can never leave the house nor show yourselves in a window. Claire, do you think your parents would hide you, Ruby, Autumn and Olivia?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Good. You, too, cannot be seen by any neighbors, okay? Kim, Willow and the rest of the kids, you're going to the Cullens' old house. You may leave the house to play with the kids outside, but nobody may see you on the street or the driveway. Take as many groceries with you as you can, because nobody will be able to supply you with food as to not show that someone lives in that house again. Basti, Julia and Ava, you don't have to hide because you're white. Nevertheless you'll stay at my house, because it's fairly secluded and the pack might be able to visit you for latest news. The pack will split up and protect those small groups from vampires. I know there haven't been any in one year, but when they hear that we're gone they might try to get their revenge. Zack, Simon and Dave, you watch over Emily's and Claire's group, Leah, Collin and Sky, you'll keep an eye on Kim's and Basti's group. Aaron and Hayden, you'll come with us into the woods. Any questions?"

I admired how quickly he had made up this solution and grouped us together.

"What about Chad?" Kim asked.

"He got arrested. And the army is on its way to arrest the rest of us, even you girls. We don't have much time. Only take a few clothes with you. You'll leave the reservation over the old forest road. I hope they haven't considered blocking that one, too. And don't leave any evidence about vampires behind. Burn your journals or take them with you and if you have any suspicious e-mails on your laptops or texts on your phones, take them with you. If you take your phones, leave the SIM card behind, because otherwise they can locate your position. Anymore questions?"

The door burst open and Gary Cloud rushed in with a couple of others.

"We just heard about the fateful incident. Can we do anything to help?"

"Thank you very much, but unless you know a permanent hiding place for 35 people or you can give us a bit more time, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do."

"The KCTS bitch said that the army is coming for you?"

"Yes. We have less than an hour to flee."

Gary made a pensive face.

"Maybe there is a way to give you a bit more time."

"As long as it's nothing illegal, try it. Now, everybody, hurry up. Basti, Julia and Ava, you could help Kim and Willow with the food. They can raid the Den's store room, Leah, can't they?"

I nodded, grabbed my kids and went upstairs to pack a few clothes and some toys. Jayden cried, but at least the girls were old enough to take care of their luggage themselves.

* * *

_What do you think? Please leave a review!  
_

_Next update on Tuesday._


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you for your reviews, Ciara and WolvePackForever! You made my day.  
_

* * *

**Grandpa Of A Monster**

-Leah's POV-

Monday, July 8

Half an hour later Basti, Julia, Ava and I watched the last backing lights vanish on the old forest road. I accompanied them openly to Sam and Emily's house, because all the journalists and scientists had disappeared. They were probably scared. We switched the TV on. Julia volunteered to watch the road so that I could quickly disappear through the back door when someone came. After five minutes of zapping, we came across a live reported news special. It showed an aerial picture of La Push Road at the reservation border. On one side of the border was the roadblock of the police. On the other side was a sitting blockade made up by about forty Quileute. The camera zoomed in and I recognized Gary and Old Quil in the first line. The reporter held a micro in front of Gary.

"What exactly are you doing here, Sir?"

"It's called a sit-down protest."

"Well, what are you protesting against?"

"The arrest of innocent people," he replied as if it was the most obvious reason in the world.

"So you call the pseudo-protectors innocent?"

"Of course. There's no evidence that they were involved in these murders."

"But they're werewolves."

"No. They're shape-shifters."

"No matter how you call them, they'll still be monsters."

I flinched at that word.

"No, they're definitely not. You know, in legends, fairy tales and science-fiction there are always two sides: good and bad. You would never call the good ones monsters just because they have supernatural powers, would you?"

"What makes you think they're the good ones?"

"I don't _think_ they're the good ones, I _know_ it."

The reporter turned to Old Quil.

"What about you? Do you have the same strong belief?"

"Stronger, even. I owe a shape-shifter my life. They are good boys. They protect. They would never kill a human."

Old Quil had been on a mushroom foray when a vampire slipped through our defenses. Old Quil stroke up a conversation with the leech to gain time. Enough time for Collin to come across the vampire's trail and catch up with him before he could sink his teeth into Old Quil.

"Maybe the _boys_, how you call them, are good and don't want to hurt humans, but what about the beast inside of them?"

"They're the same. A unity of man and animal. If the man is good, so is the animal."

"But an animal has completely different instincts than a human. Are you sure they wouldn't kill a human out of instinct when they feel threatened?"

"The human part is always in control."

"Are you aware that the werewolves,"

"Shape-shifters!" he interrupted the reporter.

"Okay, that the _shape-shifters_ have been declared a threat to national security and that therefore you can get into prison for helping them? Do you want to spend the rest of your life in a dismal cell?"

"Threat to national security, that's ridiculous! Anyway, I'm not helping them, I'm just protesting. I have a right to protest."

"But by blocking the street you're impeding the police and, in about twenty minutes, you'll impede the army."

"They wouldn't listen to our protest if we did it any other way," Gary interfered.

"They won't listen this way either. Nobody will listen."

"Aren't you listening right now? And the viewers of your channel are listening as well."

"Well, literally, yes, but nevertheless you won't convince anybody that the werewolves are harmless."

"Shape-shifters," Old Quil corrected in a strict teacher-like voice. I couldn't help but laugh despite our hopeless situation. The reporter turned away from them, sighed and faced the camera.

"There are two other sitting blockades on the two other access streets to the reservation. While we wait for the army to arrive, I'll hand over to my colleague Josh Miller at Forks police station."

Another reporter appeared on screen in front of the small police station.

"The Quileute werewolves are suspected to have killed nearly fifty people who went missing in Seattle 18 years ago, and at least two other people from the Olympic peninsula. Forks' police don't have enough men to be able to arrest them, especially considering that nothing is known about their wolf nature and their abilities. However, one of them is already behind bars. Chadwick Sykes, approximately 30 years old although looking like eighteen, worked as a police officer. He had been at work today when the news arrived that one of the other werewolves turned into his wolf-self in the middle of La Push."

They showed the record of Hayden's phasing.

"Charlie Swan, Chief of the police, got the order to arrest him immediately, but he refused. His stepchildren Leah and Seth Clearwater are werewolves, which explains why he would take their side. He was suspended and his deputies managed to arrest Chadwick Sykes."

The reporter entered the station while continuing, "He tried to escape and got shot. Although wounded, the deputies had to blind him with pepper spray in order to get hold of him. It was fascinating to see how the bullet wound and the irritated eyes and skin healed in a matter of minutes."

"Fascinating," I scoffed. The camera turned to Chad's cell. He sat on a hard-looking bench with drawn up legs, his arms resting on his knees, and looked out of the small barred window that was located high up in the wall. He ignored the reporter, Troy and a third man, who I recognized as one of the scientists, completely.

"Chad, please, it's just a blood test," Troy begged. Chad continued to stare out of the window.

"If you don't cooperate, Dr. Richmond will have to anesthetize you like a wild animal. You don't want that, do you?" he sighed, "Okay, We'll give you five minutes to think about it. Dr. Richmond, you can go get your tools."

The reporter finished his observing behavior and addressed the officer.

"How was it for you to arrest your colleague?"

Troy glanced sadly at Chad.

"Strange, especially because Chief Swan refused to do it. It didn't feel right. I couldn't have shot Chad. He was my partner. We are – or we were, I don't know – friends."

"Did you notice his lack of aging?"

"Of course. We've been working together the last ten years. I couldn't not notice."

"Did you ever ask him for the reason?"

"He said it was in his genes."

"What will happen if you cannot prove that he was involved in these murders?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know."

"What do you think now, knowing that you've been working so closely with a werewolf for years, even been his friend?"

"I want to believe that he's not a killer. I know that his human side isn't a killer, but I'm afraid of his wolf side."

The camera turned to Chad who had turned to look at his friend with a sad expression.

"Mr. Sykes, is there a chance we get a word out of you?" the reporter asked. Chad turned back to look out the window without a word. The doctor returned and Troy asked, "Chad, have you made up your mind? Come on, you _know_ that cooperation is always the better choice."

Chad remained still and so the doctor raised a blowpipe – the sort they use to shoot narcotic arrows at wild animals. Chad lowered his hands to his sides and Troy sighed relieved, thinking that he had made up his mind. But all he did was making a small, barely noticeable movement with his left arm that brought his hand within reach of the thin cushion. His lips twitched upwards. I wondered what he was planning. I could see that not only his body stance had changed, but also his inner stance. He was attentive. In the millisecond a puffing sound announced the arrow being sent off Chad raised his left arm quicker than humanly possible and brought the cushion right into the air route of the arrow. The arrow went through it, but lost its speed so that Chad was easily capable of catching it with his other hand before it could hit his skin. Basti chuckled.

"I bet they didn't see that coming."

Chad smirked.

"Well," the reporter began, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we just got a demonstration of the fast reflexes of a werewolf. I'm still staggered. But I hear the army has arrived. With that, I give back to Tessa."

The screen showed the blocked road again.

"As you can see, the soldiers are carrying the protestors from the street to make room for a Humvee and a prisoner bus. Behind the bus you can see several off-road vehicles from the Olympic National Park which carry a few rangers who are wolf specialists, the park's Search and Rescue Team and their search dogs. It is expected that at least some of the werewolves will try to flee into the woods. In that case, the dogs will hopefully find them."

"You should go, Leah, get a head start," Basti suggested.

I snorted.

"I don't need a head start from some stupid dogs which are limited to the speed of their caretakers."

"Go anyway. Tell the others what's happening; make your track long enough that you can sleep tonight without having to fear that they catch up on you while you sleep."

I rolled my eyes, but got up nonetheless. I was already at the back door when Julia called me back.

"Wait! Your phone!"

I had nearly forgotten that I had to leave my phone behind.

"Thanks for the reminder."

I pulled it out of my pocket and, on the spur of the moment, I quickly typed in _I love you and I always will_ and sent the message to Mom's cell phone. After all, who knew when I would be able to contact her again? I dumbed my phone on a sideboard and ran into the woods to phase.

I checked the borders of the reservation for any fresh vampire traces – fortunately there weren't any – before I went to the Quileute River. I phased back and got into the water. I planned to swim upstream for as long as I could manage. That way, my scent would end on the river bank and they would need quite some time to search both sides of the river to find the place where I got out of the water. I swam about two miles. Then I ran in a much larger semi-circle around the reservation to check for vampires once again. I didn't have to share the news of the arrival of the army with the others because while Sky patrolled around the Cullens' house, Collin was inside and watched TV. He was in his wolf form and projected the TV screen to our minds. The army had arrived in the village and had discovered our escape. While some soldiers accompanied the SAR team, others searched our houses and questioned the people. Nobody told them anything though and they didn't find anything more than photos of all of us. Up to now, the press had only been able to gather photos of some of us.

"It seems like the werewolves have been warned," the reporter said, "and escaped either into the woods or by car. Although the streets have been blocked, at least three cars are missing."

They showed my Buick, Embry's Forester and Emily's van and the respective number plates.

"Please watch out carefully if you recognize one of these cars somewhere, or one of the following persons," several family and group photos of us appeared on the screen, "If you do, retreat cautiously, behave inconspicuously and call the number inserted below immediately. It is not known whether all the girls are werewolves or just a few of them. It is quite certain though that all the men are werewolves. The other tribe members stick to their belief that the werewolves wouldn't hurt a fly. They are quite unhappy about their escape and blame the military for leaving them unprotected. Of what they have to be protected, they don't want to reveal. Three members of this large family-like group around the protectors have stayed in La Push. They don't carry Native American blood and don't show any werewolf characteristics. Therefore they're believed not to be werewolves. Sebastian Reichenbach, a German mechanical engineer, was engaged to Leah Clearwater, the only confirmed female werewolf. Mr. Reichenbach, did you know about your fiancée's furry problem?"

Basti appeared on screen. He looked grim, which made my heart ache.

"Leah doesn't have a furry problem. But, yes, I knew that she's able to turn into a wolf."

"Isn't turning into a wolf a furry problem?"

"No. It's furry, yes, but it's not a problem."

"Aren't you afraid that she could hurt you, accidentally?"

"The only dangerous part about shape-shifters is the second in which they phase. Already a few weeks after their first phasing they have enough control over it to delay the phasing long enough that they can get out of the reach of any other person. After a few years, they can completely stop phasing. If they don't phase for a certain amount of time, they even lose the ability to phase. They keep the characteristics of a shape-shifter – the raised body temperature, the muscles and all that – but they can't phase anymore even if they wanted to. I'm not really supposed to tell you so many details, but I think you should know that only a fourth of the fugitives are actually able to turn into a wolf. The girls – except for Leah – and the children are totally innocent. Half of the guys used to phase into wolves, but stopped years ago! And none of the shape-shifters has ever killed a human! They made it their business to protect humans, for crying out loud! And you!," his voice rose, "You have no proof that they're dangerous! When Hayden phased, what did he do? Attack you? No, he ran away! Is that the behavior of a big bad wolf? I don't think so! Chad and most of the other shifters weren't even shifters when these murders in Seattle happened! And what kind of logic is that? If they were monsters with the urge to kill humans, why would they raid Seattle only once like that? There are just a few other unsolved cases of missing people in this region. If monsters kill, they kill constantly. Is it always going to be like that now? Someone went missing without a trace, hey, let's blame the shape-shifters! Scientists already start to make tests on Chad. They'll want to investigate the shifters in all detail. You just hear the word werewolf and run amok! It never came to your mind that they could be harmless and that revealing their secret to the public would destroy their lives! Our lives! I wanted to marry in six weeks! My bride has run off and I don't know if I ever see her again!"

'Now he's exaggerating,' Sky laughed.

"And if I do, there will probably be bars between us! And, given the unlikely possibility that you realize your fault and declare them harmless, our lives still won't ever be the same again. Scientists will want to study them, tourists come to see them. Some wanted to go to college this fall. Do you think they can still go? Either people will be scared of them or they'll see them as some kind of fascinating attraction. They never harmed anyone. They just wanted to have some peace and quiet. Their lives haven't been normal since they first phased and you stole the last bit normality they had saved for themselves by pretending to be normal when they were in public. Congratulations!"

'Wow, Leah, I didn't know your sweetheart could be so effervescent,' Collin chuckled.

"Well, Sebastian Reichenbach made his position perfectly clear. Now, let's switch to one of the other two whites in the group around the werewolves. Ava Buchanan, 21 years old and the girlfriend of one of the werewolves, is currently arguing with her father who tries to get her to come home."

"No, Dad, I'm staying! I am twenty-one, you can't force me to come with you!" she said determined.

"Ava," her father glanced nervously at the camera, "please! He's gone, he won't come back. He left you here!"

"Because he had to! One day I'll see him again. I'll wait for him. I love him and I know for sure that he loves me too!"

"Ava, for heaven's sake, he's a werewolf! He could hurt you! He could kill you! He could impregnate you with a monster! Do you want to raise a monster in your womb?"

Tears started to run down her face as she stated silently, "That's what I'm already doing. Yes, Daddy, I'm pregnant. You're going to be a grandpa. The grandpa of a monster. I, for my part, am going to be the mother of a protector. And I'm proud of it."

Her father's face turned an alarming shade of red.

"You're what?" he squeaked.

"I'm providing for the next generation of La Push protectors."

'Oh no, she really shouldn't have mentioned her pregnancy in front of a camera! It won't take a day before the scientists are all over her, wanting to study the development of a werewolf fetus,' Aaron complained, 'How do I tell Lennie?'

Ava's father breathed deeply in and out.

"Which month?"

"Third."

"Okay. Then it's not too late yet. I'll make an appointment for you. They'll have that thing out of you in no time."

Ava took a step back from him.

"Are you talking about abortion? Did you even listen to me? I'm proud of this baby! I want it! And I will most definitely not let anybody harm it!" she yelled.

"You're insane! If you don't come home with me and let us help you, you won't be welcome there ever again."

Julia came to support Ava by placing an arm around her waist and squeezing her hand.

"Fine," Ava choked, "Goodbye, father."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"Ava, think again, we are your parents, your family!"

Ava nodded.

"Yes, I know. I'm half you, half Mom. But this baby is half me. And my heart is Lennie's. They're my family, too. Do you know what the difference is between you and them? They can't live without me. You can. And if you don't want to live without me, well, then don't make me choose."

Mr. Buchanan stared stunned at his daughter for a moment before turning on his heels and leaving in a rush. The second the door closed behind him, Ava broke down crying. Basti positioned himself in between her and the camera and politely asked the reporter to leave. Which, surprisingly, he did. Another scene appeared on screen focusing on another reporter.

"The Search and Rescue Team just gave up their attempts to track down the werewolves. Their dogs ran off in different directions every few feet and followed tracks that seemed completely aimless, turning left and right nonstop, not straight ahead like you would suspect a fleeing person to run off. They came to the conclusion that the werewolves used to constantly run around in the surrounding woods and that the dogs have difficulties to distinguish between old tracks and new tracks. They're going to restart searching farther from the reservation, but finding a track there will probably take some time. Your aid is needed! If you have seen one of the following cars or persons, please inform the police immediately. If you meet one of these persons, slowly retreat, behave inconspicuously and call for help on this number."

'These advices are ridiculous!' Zack exclaimed.

Hayden had phased back to give Sam and the others an update on the latest events and phased again now.

'Leah, Lennie wants you to return into close proximity to Sam's house. When they start treating Ava like onion cells under a microscope or when they consider forcing her into abortion you have to get her and carry her away from there.'

'Excuse me? Should I just walk into a room full of scientists with narcotics, grab her and run back into the woods?'

'Um, yes?'

'Great. Just great. Why doesn't he ask me to volunteer for the laboratory tests? That would make it so much easier and would cost less nerves.'

'Stop complaining, Leah. If it was Basti you would do it without thinking twice,' Aaron said annoyed. I headed back to the reservation reluctantly.

'And if you get a chance to talk to Basti, Julia or Ava,' Hayden spoke up again, 'tell them to tell Chad to start cooperating. Sam's order. He has to convince them of our harmlessness. As long as the tests they demand to make don't get inhuman or degrading, he should let them have their way. And he should answer any questions as long as the answer doesn't make us look dangerous or exposes the existence of vampires.'

'Alright.'

'Can I ask something?'

'Um, sure,' I replied wondering why he would ask that.

'Why do we protect the vampires by not spilling the secret of their existence?'

'Well, first,' Aaron replied, 'it doesn't protect them, because they don't need to be protected from humanity. No human weapon can kill them. Second, if we spill their secret, the Volturi will take revenge on our tribe. And that's the last thing we want.'

'Oh. Figures.'

The day passed without any more big events. A doctor had politely asked Ava if he may accompany her during her pregnancy and promised her to limit himself to the common pregnancy check-ups. During the talk, Basti had stood next to Ava in a repellent, hostile stance that had intimidated the medic. After sunset I was able to sneak into the house, talk to them and spend the night with Basti. I knew the others would kill me when they heard that because they couldn't be with their imprints, but what can I say? I simply couldn't resist.

The army stayed on the reservation and one soldier nearly saw me when I left the house early in the morning. I settled down in thick brushwood some hundred feet from the house and like yesterday Collin acted as TV transmitter for us. First, there was nothing new in the morning news, but then Kim zapped to the channel that had broadcasted the live report yesterday. It seemed like they had made it their business to report the events concerning us the minute they happened. Didn't they have a regular program to show?

* * *

_Next update on Saturday.  
_

_Please review, reviews make me really happy!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you for your reviews, Ciara and WolvePackForever!_

_Sorry, I'm a bit late today. My internet connection wasn't cooperating._

* * *

**Heartbeats**

-Chad's POV-

Tuesday, July 9

The door to the main room of the station opened, but I didn't look up to see who it was. It was the morning of the next day. I had gotten a pathetic breakfast that didn't even deserve the name. Now I was lying on my stone-like bed with my eyes closed, determined to ignore my visitors. From the noises I assumed that it was a TV crew.

"Hey Chad," Julia said quietly. Hearing her voice, I jumped off the bench and rushed to the bars. Greg pulled Julia roughly backwards, causing me to growl protectively.

"Back off!" he demanded and aimed his handgun at me. I retreated reluctantly, glaring at my former colleague. Julia rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly. There are bars between us, what could he do?"

"You have five minutes. If he approaches the bars again, you'll have to go."

Julia raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. She stepped as close to the bars as possible. She started moving her lips and I had to listen carefully to understand what she was saying. In high school, she had developed this technique to communicate with Jasper across the room during class. She had learned to speak so lowly that no human or normal microphone could catch her words and Jasper had responded by sending her a feeling that expressed his answer best.

"The others managed to escape. The guys are in the woods, some of the imprints are at the old Cullen house, some are at Emily's parents' house and some at Claire's parents' house. Basti, Ava and I hold the fort on the reservation."

I was glad to hear that. My colleagues, even Troy, had refused to tell me what was going on on the reservation. Greg watched us suspiciously as he couldn't hear anything and developed a frown that got deeper and deeper.

"Sam orders you to start cooperating," Julia continued, "You have to convince them that you're harmless. Let them do their tests as long as they don't become inhuman or degrading. Answer their questions honestly, but avoid to make the pack look dangerous and don't tell them about the vampires."

I nodded reluctantly, not exactly thrilled that I was supposed to let myself be investigated like an exotic animal.

"Whatever you're doing, stop it!" Greg barked, obviously reaching the limits of his patience.

Julia turned to him with an innocent smile.

"We're just talking. Well, actually I'm talking and he's listening. That's not forbidden, is it?"

"Talk loud enough for me to hear your words."

"Fine. I finished the secret part anyway. Tell me, Chad, how are you? Do you get enough food?"

I huffed.

"For a human it would be enough. I'm starving."

Julia turned to Greg.

"Shape-shifters need more food than humans. Do you try to weaken him on purpose?"

She just got a shrug as an answer and turned back to me.

"How did you sleep?"

"The forest ground is a luxury mattress compared to this bench."

"It's your own fault you perforated your cushion," Greg interrupted.

"I didn't complain about the cushion. I complained about the bench," I corrected.

"Well, if this girl is getting you to stop ignoring us, she can stay a little longer. How do you become a werewolf? By being bitten by one?"

I snorted, but I didn't answer.

"Chad!" Julia hissed. I glanced at her before explaining, "It's genetic. For real werewolves, it's like you said. You become one by being bitten by one. But we aren't werewolves. We're shape-shifters. The gene has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries."

"Real werewolves? Are you implying that there's something else out there? Something supernatural? Apart from you?"

"Yes. And, contrary to us, you wouldn't survive a meeting with a real werewolf. But you're lucky. There is no evidence that any werewolf ever lived here. And those in Europe are said to have become extinct centuries ago."

"And you think I'd believe that you aren't real werewolves?"

"Once again, we're shape-shifters. Werewolves can only phase on a full moon. They don't have control over the beast inside of them. A werewolf in his wolf form looks a lot more human than we do, but is much more animalistic. We can phase whenever we want. We have complete control over our wolf's actions."

"Anybody could claim that. You said it's in your genes. How come your fathers aren't werewolves as well?"

"Well, I guess you could compare it to an inheritable disease. Some people carry the gene their whole lives without even noticing. In others the disease breaks out, in our case the symptoms would be rapid growth, muscle gain and finally a fever before the first phasing occurs."

"What are you capable of?"

"I'm so not going to answer that question," I crossed my arms.

"Chad," Julia begged.

"More food, more answers," I smirked.

Julia smiled weakly. Greg groaned.

"Stubborn pighead."

"Oh, and since we're already discussing the conditions for my cooperation, I have another one. Let me thank Julia for her visit with a hug."

The officer groaned again.

"Wasn't she someone else's girlfriend?"

"He'd be okay with that."

"Well then, if she agrees to be locked up with you in that cell for a minute. And if you agree to make the tests the scientists want to do on you."

"Deal. But I reserve the right to snap if they don't treat me nicely."

"Chad!" Julia exclaimed.

"What? I want to be treated like a human with feelings and needs, pride and human dignity. I want to know what they're testing and how they're testing it before they start the test. I only want to be anesthetized when I ask for it. If they want to investigate me and a test can't be done through the safety of the bars, they'll have to gather the courage to enter my cell. And I want that Julia is allowed to stay all the time to make sure that my requests are being followed."

"I've got to discuss that with my superior."

* * *

-Leah's POV-

Tuesday, July 9

"Good morning and welcome back to _La Push Live_, Ladies and Gentlemen. Yesterday we witnessed the incredible transformation of a shape-shifter from his human form to his wolf form."

'Wow, they've learned to call us properly!' Collin exclaimed.

"Afterwards, the events came thick and fast. Journalists and scientists left the reservation in a rush, too scared to stay. The police blocked the access streets to the reservation to keep the werewolves from escaping by car."

'Ugh, I stand corrected,' Collin groaned.

"One of them, a former police officer, was arrested by his colleagues. While the police waited for the army to arrest the rest of them, tribe members started sit-down protests in front of the police's road blocks. They claimed to be protesting against the arrest of innocents. They believe that the werewolves are good and don't pose a threat to anyone. When the army arrived in La Push, they had to discover that the shifters, their families and girlfriends had disappeared. Although the roads were blocked, at least three cars disappeared with them. If you see one of the following…," she rattled the well-known text off before continuing, "The only three whites in this large family-like group stayed on the reservation. One of them being Ava Buchanan, 21 years old and pregnant with a werewolf baby – or should I say puppy? The search for the fugitives continues today, but while that seems somewhat hopeless in the wide forests of the Olympic peninsula, progress has been made somewhere else. This morning, Chadwick Sykes, the imprisoned shape-shifter, got visited by Julia Reichenbach who is Ava Buchanan's friend and the girlfriend of a werewolf. After she talked to him in a strange way, seemingly too low for human ears and normal microphones to hear, the silent werewolf who ignored everyone yesterday agreed to answer questions and undergo some tests – on brazen conditions, but still, it is a progress. Meanwhile, the conditions have been accepted and the scientists are already on their way while Chadwick Sykes gathers new energy with an extra-large breakfast for which he can thank Julia who insisted that he needed more food than a human.

One might ask himself why those, who are close to the shape-shifters, remain of the strong conviction that they are harmless, when it sounds incredible for the rest of us that werewolves could be good-natured. Emily Uley, wife of Sam Uley, the first leader of the werewolves, is terribly scarred. People from Forks remember that she got mauled by a bear nineteen years ago. But the scars don't seem to fit to the size of the paws of the kinds of bears living in this area. It seems likely that instead of a bear, she has been attacked by one of the werewolves, maybe her husband himself. So the question is, how can Sebastian and Julia Reichenbach and Ava Buchanan be so loyal to these apparently dangerous creatures? A new theory considers the possibility that the werewolves have some kind of power over them. That they have an ability to manipulate people into trusting them."

We all groaned simultaneously.

'That's fantasy bullshit! Not even vampires can manipulate people like that!' Aaron complained.

The reporter entered the police station and went to Chad's cell. We were surprised to see Julia _inside_ the cell. She sat next to Chad on the bench. An empty plate stood on his other side. They were talking in hushed tones. Chad smiled and was in a much better mood. Julia laughed and Chad chuckled.

'Typical Julia. She knows how to cheer people up in depressing situations,' I mused.

The reporter addressed the officer, "Wasn't the condition he made that he wanted to hug her? Now they're chatting. Shouldn't you get her out of there before he hurts her?"

"She refused to come back out. She wants to supervise the scientists and be able to interfere immediately when they do something he doesn't want. I tried to convince her that it's not safe, but she seems to be a lost cause. Probably has been brainwashed, poor girl."

"No, I haven't!" Julia objected heatedly, "I act on my free will and my very own self-made beliefs."

"That's what they make you think."

"They don't make me think or do anything!"

"You cannot know for sure."

"Chad! Defend yourself! Tell them that you don't manipulate people!"

Chad grinned lightly at her antics.

"Well, Greg, do you think I would let her order me around like that if I were able to manipulate her? Do you think I'd still be here if I could manipulate you into letting me go? I wish I could, because I really want to get out of here. But I can't. So instead of spreading rumors about Julia having been brainwashed, you could start believing her that I don't pose a threat."

* * *

-Chad's POV-

Tuesday, July 9

Five scientists entered the room with their equipment, followed by Troy, and it got quite cramped in front of the bars.

"Good morning, Chad," Troy said.

"Morning, Troy," I replied grumpily.

"Ready for some questions and tests?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Julia squeezed my hand.

"Good. Stay where you are if you don't want to be shot again. Dr. Richmond, shall we?"

The medic nodded. He was pale and drops of sweat formed on his forehead. While Greg aimed his handgun at me, Troy unlocked the cell door and entered the cell followed by Dr. Richmond. Troy, too, pulled out his handgun and released the safety. Greg locked the cell door behind them and returned to aiming at me with his gun. Doctor Richmond set down his doctor's bag and fumbled with the clasps.

"I-I'll start with some ba-basic t-tests. Blood pressure, h-heartbeat, body t-temperature. To be-begin with, I'd l-like to take a blo-blood sample. Are you o-okay with that?" he asked me in a shaky voice.

I eyed him up for a second.

"Your hands are trembling. I think you should start with something that doesn't involve having to hit a vein with a needle until you've become a bit calmer. You really don't have to be scared. I won't bite."

"Chad, would you agree to let me handcuff you? Maybe that would give Dr. Richmond some sense of security," Troy suggested.

Dr. Richmond nodded frantically. I sighed. I pondered for a few seconds, but then I held out my hands. Troy put his handgun back into the holster and took the handcuffs from his belt. After he had cuffed me, Dr. Richmond stepped closer with a small, longish device in his hand.

"This is an infrared thermometer. I can measure your temperature on your forehead with it."

He held the device close to my forehead. His eyes widened.

"108.6!"

One of the other scientists took notes.

"Mr. Sykes, do you get cold more easily than humans? This climate must be exceptionally cold for you."

"On the contrary. I don't feel the cold. I'm always warm."

"Do you feel any temperature differences at all? Like, when you touch an ice cube or eat an ice-cream?"

"Maybe my wording wasn't the best. I can feel cold temperatures. But they don't affect me. It's not uncomfortable for me to be in the cold."

"Strange, strange, really strange," the medic muttered. He exchanged the thermometer with a blood pressure meter. The cuff was barely wide enough for my biceps.

"135/80 with a pulse of only 42."

Dr. Richmond brought a stethoscope next. I managed to open the buttons of my shirt with my cuffed hands. I pulled the shirt over my head. It didn't go over the handcuffs of course, but my torso was free for the doctor.

"Breathe in deeply, please."

I did as I was told.

"And breathe out… His lungs seem normal. But I can hear the third heart sound. He has an athlete's heart, I'd say. Do you work out a lot, Mr. Sykes?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"Not at all? Where do these muscles come from then?"

I shrugged.

"It's a shape-shifter trait. Look at yourself, you've relaxed! No trembling anymore and your heartbeat is back to normal. I'm not that bad, am I?"

Dr. Richmond stared at me bewildered.

"My heartbeat?"

"Yes. I don't need a stethoscope to hear it. And it was beating like crazy when you entered my cell. Now it's fine again. Do you want to take the blood sample next?"

"Um, sure."

He took the sample with calm hands. After pulling the cannula out of my arm, he pressed a wad of cotton wool onto the wound. I yanked my arm away.

"I don't need that. Such a small wound heals faster than you can watch. See, the skin is already smooth and flawless again."

"Fascinating," Richmond whispered. I rolled my eyes. Richmond handed the sample over to one of his colleagues behind the bars. Then he shifted his weight nervously.

"What's wrong, doc?" I frowned, "Just a minute ago you were perfectly at ease. Is it about the next test? Afraid I won't like it?"

The medic nodded.

"Spit it out already."

"We have to take these tests again – when you're in your wolf form."

I shrugged.

"Okay. Get out of here, I'll phase and then you can come back in and make your tests."

"I'm not insane, Mr. Sykes. I won't enter the cage of a wolf. And my colleagues here were already afraid to approach you in your human form. We'll have to anesthetize you for these tests. For our safety."

I jumped up irritated. Dr. Richmond and Troy flinched back and Troy raised his handgun, which he had held relatively loosely up to this moment.

"No. I don't want to be anesthetized!"

I started trembling ever so slightly. Julia stepped towards me and placed a hand on my arm.

"Calm down, Chad. Let's discuss this matter calmly. You don't have a reason to explode like that."

"But I told them that I didn't want to be anesthetized unless I asked for it! I didn't hear me asking, did you?"

"They're just scared. They don't know any better."

I turned to Dr. Richmond.

"How should I convince you that I have myself under control when I'm in wolf form if you don't give me a chance to prove it?"

"How about this," Julia suggested, "I'll take the body temperature and the blood pressure, so that you can see that he won't do anything. And then you can take the blood sample and listen to his heartbeat."

"No, I won't allow that you endanger yourself," Troy objected.

"That's my decision, isn't it? There's no danger anyway."

Troy didn't seem convinced.

"I accept your offer. But I reserve the right to reconsider anesthetization if I don't feel safe," Dr. Richmond declared.

"No way!" I complained.

"Chad…," Julia started.

"No, Julia! He'll have to do without the tests if he doesn't feel safe enough. My cooperation has its limits. No anesthetization was one of my conditions. Period."

"Alright. Come on, Misters, you've heard him. No anesthetization. Let's leave him alone so that he can phase."

She stepped towards the cell door. Greg pulled the keys out and demanded, "Back off, Chad. I want to see you in the farthest corner of the cell with your back to us."

"Take the handcuffs off, Troy. I can't phase with them," I declared.

Troy did that. Afterwards he retreated backwards without taking his eyes off me. I turned to the back wall. Greg let Dr. Richmond, Julia and Troy out of the cell and Julia drove everyone out of the room.

* * *

_Next update on Tuesday._

_Please review and tell me what you think!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you for reviewing, WolvePackForever and Ciara!_

_WolvePackForever, that really means a lot to me, thank you so much!_

_Ciara, etwas spät, aber dir auch Frohe Ostern! Hier kommt ein weiteres Kapitel aus Chads Sicht :)_

* * *

**Stubborn Pale-Faces**

-Chad's POV-

Tuesday, July 9

I phased and felt the presence of the minds of all the other pack members.

'Hey guys,' I thought sighing.

'How are you, Chad?' Aaron asked.

'Annoyed, bored, hungry, frustrated, feeling like an exotic species... I hate how they look at me both fascinated and scared. I hate Greg. I never liked him much before, actually, but now I hate him. If he hadn't shot at me I would have been able to escape. I'm glad Troy was in my cell and not Greg. Greg probably would have shot at my every movement. If Julia hadn't been there I would have exploded already.'

Apparently my pack brothers were watching TV over Collin's mind. Both from the point of view of the camera and my own point of view, they could see the officers, scientists and Julia reentering the room. In wolf form, I filled up nearly the entire cell.

'How did you manage to phase in there without hurting yourself or breaking the bench?' Dave asked admiringly.

'Skill and a bit of luck, pup,' I smirked.

Dave groaned.

'I thought Hayden was the pup now!'

'Your question proved that you're still a pup yourself,' I stated, 'If it's of consolation to you: Seth was Beta in the end and Paul still called him pup.'

Julia had stepped to the cell door without hesitation and waited for Greg to unlock it. He mustered me.

"I can't really tell you to back off this time, because there's no room. Lie down instead."

I rolled my eyes mentally and lied down. Greg unlocked the door and let Julia enter the cell before quickly locking it again. Dr. Richmond handed Julia the thermometer through the bars. She kneeled down in front of me, patted my head and let me lick her hand. The audience gasped. Julia rolled her eyes before holding the device to my forehead.

"108.3."

Dr. Richmond handed her the blood pressure meter in exchange for the thermometer. She placed the cuff around my foreleg and I put my head down in her lap. That was a lot more comfortable than the stupid bench.

"130/75. Pulse is 31."

She stayed seated on the ground, with my head in her lap, and caressed me while telling Dr. Richmond, "Now you have to make your decision. Do you want these two other tests or not? I'll stay here like this. He'll completely ignore you, won't you, Chad?"

I yelped shortly and closed my eyes.

'If she continues to stroke me like that, I'll even fall asleep.'

My pack mates laughed. Dr. Richmond approached the cell door with hesitant steps. His colleagues gave him encouraging looks and nods.

'Cowards. Let one of them do all the work,' Collin said scornfully.

Greg let Dr. Richmond into the cell. I ignored him. I kept my eyes closed and didn't show a single sign that I noticed his entering.

'He's trembling again, isn't he?' I asked the others, 'his heart is running a marathon.'

'Yup, trembles even more than earlier today,' Collin confirmed.

'Great. I hope he finds the vein within his first attempt.'

"He's starting with the stethoscope, Chad. You know that thing is cold, so don't jump at the touch of the cold metal, okay?" Julia begged. She couldn't know that I was able to see that myself over Collin's TV projection. Still, even if I weren't able to see it, I wouldn't have jumped.

'What does she think of me? Of course not!'

I opened my eyes to look up at her and tried to express the words in my eyes.

"Just wanted to warn you. Another warning: Here comes the cannula."

Dr. Richmond drew off some blood. Having done that, he dashed back to the cell door.

'Still afraid, poor guy,' Sky mused. I snorted.

'He could easily avoid straining his nerves like that by not doing these stupid tests. None of these tests will prove our harmlessness.'

'But your cooperation does. And although Dr. Richmond just fled your cell he has very well seen that you were completely tame while he was in there,' Aaron argued.

"Ugh, my legs are numb. Mind holding your head yourself for a while?" Julia asked. I grinned and got up. Julia stood up as well.

"Get out there, Miss Reichenbach," Troy instructed. Julia raised her eyebrows.

"You still don't get it, do you? I'm completely safe in here!"

"Then can you explain the true reason for Emily Uley's scars?"

"Sure."

"That's of no use!" Greg interfered, "She was barely born when Mrs Uley got those scars! They could have told her anything and she wouldn't know that they were lying!"

"Emily told me herself. And I don't see a reason not to believe her," Julia replied, "She didn't get mauled by a bear. But she didn't get _attacked_ by a shape-shifter either. Sam was a young shape-shifter when it happened. He had only been phasing for a few weeks. Such a young shifter can't control the phasing very well yet. And since Sam was the first and at that time the only shifter, he didn't have anyone to tell him how to get control. He had to figure it out by himself. When a young shifter gets angry, the anger causes his phasing. He can't do anything about it, he phases_ involuntarily. _Like Hayden did yesterday. So, Sam was angry with himself and Emily simply stood too close. He phased and wounded her_ accidentally. _It was an _accident_! An accident that can easily be avoided if one knows the warning signs that precede the phasing. Sam still hasn't forgiven himself for that. Her scars remind him every day. Still, Emily stayed with him. If she doesn't judge him, you shouldn't either."

'Well said,' I thought.

"Do you still think Emily could have lied to me? That she would accuse her husband like that if it wasn't true?"

"No," Troy said.

"But you're still afraid of your friend," Julia stated.

"I-I don't know. I don't want to be, but… how can I know that he stays like this? Maybe he is as intelligent as a human, but still as wild as an animal. He knows that he only gets out of here if we think that he's harmless. And then, once he's free, he gives in to his wild side and hurts humans again."

"He can't do something_ again _that he has never done before! You are," Greg interrupted her, "Don't insult a police officer, girl."

"What can we tell our viewers about the warning signs you just mentioned?" the reporter asked.

"Well, first, there's the mood of the shape-shifter. As long as he's calm, there's not the slightest danger. You've got to be careful if he gets angry. An experienced shifter has either learned to control his anger and therefore avoid the phasing or he has learned to suppress the phasing when he gets angry. So any shape-shifter who has been phasing for, well, I'd say, five years, is completely safe to be around. A younger, angry shape-shifter, on the other hand, will probably phase. The moment of the phasing is the only danger they pose. Even if he's angry at you he'd never attack you. So, the second warning sign which indicates that the shape-shifter is on the verge of phasing, is trembling. Their whole body starts shaking, first a little, then more. That's when you should see that you get a distance of at least five feet between you and the shifter. He'll most certainly back away himself, because he wouldn't want to hurt you."

"Trembling? Like the trembling Chad did earlier?" Troy asked.

"Exactly."

He looked at her disbelievingly.

"Why the hell didn't you say anything? He could have hurt Dr. Richmond, you or me! Hell, you even stepped closer to him! And here I was, starting to think that you're not insane, but apparently I was wrong."

Julia rolled her eyes.

"Apparently you didn't listen to me. Chad is experienced enough not to phase involuntarily. There are only two shape-shifters in the pack who aren't that experienced yet. If one of them was in here I would have backed away. But don't get me wrong: you don't have to be scared of any of them. Even the two young ones know when they're about to phase and they'll always get out of reach of any humans."

"Then why did Hayden phase in front of so many humans?"

"The younger a shifter is, the less he can delay the phasing. It's just enough time to get a few feet distance in between, not to escape out of their sight completely. Now, officer," she addressed Troy, "Why don't you pull yourself together and force yourself to enter the wolf's den and get to know the wolf side of your friend?"

I looked from her to Troy.

'Please, Troy. I'm still me,' I said although Troy couldn't hear me. I wanted him to trust me so badly. I wanted him to believe that I wasn't a monster. I wagged my tail, trying to tell Troy that I would be glad if he followed Julia's suggestion. Very hesitantly, Troy stepped to the cell door.

"Troy, that's insane!" Greg objected.

Troy seemed to brace himself as his expression changed from hesitant to determined.

"No, Greg. That's trust. Something you and your partner always lacked."

I smiled happily. Troy unlocked the door and entered the cell. His determination seemed to wobble as he stopped right behind the door. Greg locked the cell behind him.

"Where's your trust now, Troy?" he teased. I crawled slowly over to Troy, who didn't seem able to take another step. I lied down in front of him and whined quietly. With a shaking hand Troy slowly reached out to my head.

'Don't lick his hand, Chad. Not yet. I know it's tempting, but you don't want to scare him away, do you?' Aaron asked.

'I know!' I replied annoyed. Troy's hand finally reached my fur and patted it. I wagged my tail again.

"I'm sorry, Chad."

He was sincere and his apology meant a lot to me. I cautiously licked his arm to tell him that I forgave him.

"Ew. Maybe you're not a wild wolf, but you're definitely a dog."

I growled very lowly, but Troy heard me nonetheless and stiffened.

"Don't call him a dog. That's insulting," Julia explained, "Growling isn't always meant hostilely. It's their way to tell you that they're not very happy with something you said or did. Though I would be careful not to flirt with a shape-shifter's girlfriend, because then a growl would be a clear warning. They can be quite possessive," she laughed.

"Is one of the missing girls his girlfriend? I thought he was single," Troy asked.

"He is. That was an advice for shape-shifters in general."

Troy had gotten braver and stroked my head with both hands. He tickled me behind my ears and I rumbled in my chest. Troy stopped immediately.

"Not good?" he asked. Julia laughed again.

"That wasn't a growl. That was a sound of pleasure."

Troy continued to tickle me with a smile on his lips.

'Chad, you're about to convince the first stubborn pale-face of your harmlessness! Well done,' Aaron cheered.

"Miss Reichenbach," the reporter interfered once again, "could you explain something, because I don't see the logic. You say he has the same control over his wolf form as over his human form. He has a human's intelligence, so practically he's still human. Then why is he acting like a wolf, or rather a dog, which enjoys being stroked and tickled?"

"Well, I think one can imagine it like this: he has the mind of a human, but the rest of his body and therefore his nerves, too, are a wolf's. That means, the nerves that take note of the touch register a pleasant feeling and send this message to his mind. The mind doesn't care about the reason for the pleasant feeling, it only registers the pleasure and sends a message to react in an approving way. The wolfish nerves translate this message into creating that rumbling sound. At least that's how I imagine it. You'd have to ask a shape-shifter to get to know how it feels like for them. Why they enjoy being petted when they're in wolf form, but think the usual human way about being petted when they're in human form. However, contrary to dogs they don't like to be touched by strangers or mere acquaintances."

"Maybe he should phase back now so that Dr. Richmond can continue his tests," Greg suggested.

"I'm afraid that were all the tests we could do here. Except for an urine sample we'd like him to give us. Any other tests require equipment that we only have access to in a hospital or the university. We'll apply his transfer to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle."

My transfer to _where_? I rose quickly and growled fiercely at Richmond. Troy stumbled backwards until he hit the wall.

'Very well done, Chad. Your friend is scared to death!' Aaron complained.

I looked back to Troy who retreated to the back of the cell while he fumbled for his handgun. Julia stopped him.

"He's angry with Dr. Richmond, not you. And angry is all he is. He's not hostile to Dr. Richmond. Remember what I said. He expresses his discontentment by growling. And it's pretty easy to imagine why he's unhappy about the idea of being transferred to a zoo! He's not an animal!"

Her last sentence was directed at Dr. Richmond.

"But he's a prisoner. And for all we know he's unpredictable. At the zoo we have the cages and safety devices we need for him."

I growled again and Julia translated, equally angry, "Animal cages? That's degrading! Hasn't he proved in the past hour that he's trustable and harmless? Cooperative? He never wanted these stupid tests! He hates to be a test object! Nevertheless he agreed to let you do some tests on him. He offered you a finger in order to prove his innocuousness and you want to take the whole hand! If you want to X-ray him or make a CT scan or measure his brain wave activity, you can do all that in the Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles. I know that they have the equipment for that. And it's just a mile or so to Port Angeles Police Department."

"We can't take the responsibility for that risk! He could try to escape on the way from the station to the hospital. He could hurt hundreds of patients in the hospital!" Dr. Richmond argued.

"He never would!" Julia yelled.

"Enough, Miss Reichenbach. Come out there. You, too, Troy," Greg ordered. Julia obeyed reluctantly, but Troy seemed paralyzed in his corner. I looked at him sadly and turned my back to the audience on the other side of the bars. I phased back and quickly pulled my trousers on. Troy managed to move again and headed for the door, but I thwarted him.

"Troy," I begged, "I didn't want to scare you. _Please_ don't be scared. I just really don't want to be an exhibit at the zoo, that's why I overreacted a bit. I can't help that I growl when I'm angry. But that doesn't make me dangerous. You know the saying, barking dogs seldom bite, right?"

"If there hadn't been bars between you and Dr. Richmond, you would have attacked him," he accused.

"Hell, no! Never! Just because a boxer is able to knock out someone, you don't suspect him to punch his opponent every time he gets angry, do you? Just because a civilian owns a gun you don't suspect him to shoot every person he gets angry with. A well-trained horse still has the ability to throw its rider off, but it doesn't do it, even if its rider annoys it. And just because I'm able to attack a person, doesn't mean I have to do it whenever I get angry."

Troy looked at me pensively, obviously not sure what to think and do. Without a word to me he then went around me and out of the cell. I watched him crestfallen.

"Dr. Richmond," Troy began, "I will do what I can to prevent that your application is accepted. I'm sure I can find a law that forbids keeping humans in an animal cage."

My heart jumped happily. I hadn't lost his friendship completely.

"He isn't human, Troy! He's a werewolf!" Greg interfered.

"Shape-shifter," Troy corrected, "and he's more than half human. I think that's enough humanity to apply human rights."

* * *

_Next update on Saturday.  
_

_Please leave me a review and tell me what you think, good or bad, anonymous or signed!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Yay! So many reviews :) Thanks a lot, Ciara, ShadowCub, WolvePackForever and Fflamea!_

_ShadowCub, I think the whole concept of the wolves with their imprinting and Leah being the oddball doesn't really support gender equality, so it sort of fits that Sam would rather think of protecting women than men. Plus I think sensitivity depends on the upbringing and because a lot of people still think that men have to be strong, boys aren't taught that it's alright to be sensitive and therefore there are still more sensitive women than men. I really don't know how you got the idea that the wolves could apply diplomatic immunity. They're neither diplomats nor residing in a foreign country. Even diplomats don't have immunity in their home country. So I really don't see how that could work for them... Anyway, I'm glad that you followed and favorited the story although you think the wolves are stupid. Thank you!_

_WolvePackForever, well you'll have to wait and see where he ends up..._

* * *

**Hexed Into Submission**

-Leah's POV-

Tuesday, July 9

'That makes one enemy less and one friend won,' Aaron grinned.

'Yeah, our first victory over the stupid folklore-driven beliefs of the pale-faces!' Sky cheered.

'Hold on a second,' I had to dampen their joy, 'Troy didn't say that he believes Chad to be harmless. He just said he thinks he should be treated like a human.'

'Well, that's a start. And he corrected Greg that we aren't werewolves. Meaning he believes Chad that there is a difference and that's already close to believing that the main difference is that werewolves are dangerous and shape-shifters harmless,' Collin stated.

The reporter and the scientists had left the police station.

"I don't know what to think or believe anymore. Could the shape-shifters really be relatively harmless? Is all we have to know to protect us that one shouldn't annoy a shape-shifter? Are they innocent concerning the unsolved cases of missing people? We found someone who is neither Quileute nor part of their group and has believed in their good-naturedness right from the start. Oliver Norton, park manager of Olympic National Park and boss of Embry Call, second leader of the protectors, refuses to believe that Embry could be a killer."

The image switched to a simple office, in which Oliver Norton sat at his desk.

"Mr. Norton, is it true that Embry Call used to work for you for many years?"

"Yes. He's been a park ranger here for thirteen years. And I have to correct you: he hasn't resigned from his job and I haven't fired him, nor am I planning to fire him. So he _is_ working for me."

That wasn't completely the truth. Embry had handed in his notice which would come into force at the end of summer when he went to university with Autumn. Norton had assured him that he could always come back for summer jobs and that he'd like him to come back to the park after his study of Wildlife Ecology.

"But he hasn't showed up to work since yesterday, has he?"

"He hasn't showed up to work for a week. But that's okay. He called in sick two times in thirteen years. He's always been reliable. Someone like that can take the liberty to stay away because of personal problems. Plus, he didn't just stay away without excusing himself. He asked for some free days on short notice and I afforded him them."

"Did you know that he's a werewolf?"

"No, I didn't."

"But you must have noticed his lack of aging."

"Yes, of course. In the beginning he said he had good genes and later I didn't ask again because I figured it was none of my business. Usually park rangers only stay at one park for a few years and go on to the next. Embry asked to be allowed to stay here because he couldn't leave his tribe and I was okay with that because if he left I would lose the best ranger I ever had. His partners never noticed his lack of aging because they only worked with him for a few years."

"And, now that you know what he is you still want to keep him as a ranger?"

"Yes. He's my best man. He did a perfect job the last thirteen years and I don't see why he shouldn't do a perfect job in the future."

"Aren't you afraid that he could hurt or even kill visitors?"

"The visitors are totally safe with him. He has led a lot of hiking tours and he never lost a single person. In dangerous situations he always keeps calm. Other rangers and visitors admired his presence of mind. They complimented his calming aura. When hikers went missing, he's always been the first one I called. He found them faster than the search and rescue squad with their search dogs. Same for wounded animals. When an animal got shot, but still managed to run off, I could count on Embry to find it and spare it the painful hours of bleeding to death. Another ranger gave Embry a nickname ten years ago: Scout, as in the old traditional Indian scouts. The rangers passed that nickname down to their successors, so he's still being called that. And it fits. That ranger who called him Scout first said Embry reads tracks like other people read books. And he knows the park like the back of his hand. I swear you could abandon him blindfolded in the wilderness of the park, far off the next hiking trail, and he'd be back at the station faster than you are.

And I am convinced that if he and his friends are hiding in the woods, nobody is ever going to find them. Whenever Embry gets a new partner, it's usually an older ranger or at least he looks older than Embry. However, after a few weeks they all accept him as superior. Imagine that, he looks like a boy of eighteen, yet rangers over the age of forty look up to him, ask him for advice, let him decide what shall be done. Do you know his girlfriend, Autumn? He only knew her for a week when he saved her from her abusive father. After her mother's death she had become a selective mute and Embry made her talk again. Embry Call is an out-and-out good person. Hell would have to freeze over before that guy kills someone! The police should drop that stupid arrest warrant, so that I get my best man back."

"What if you're wrong? What if Embry comes back to work and in a few months he loses control and kills a hiker? Could you live with the responsibility for that?"

"In thirteen years he never hurt anybody. Do you really think now that his secret is out he would kill a hiker in the park, knowing that everyone would accuse him immediately?"

"What if the visitors are scared of him? You need their fees to maintain the park, don't you? If they stayed away, you'd have a serious problem."

"I would change Embry's tasks a bit. I can imagine that people might be too scared of him to follow him on a hiking trip or ask his advice in the ranger station. He would do more work that doesn't involve contact to visitors. And when he finds a missing hiker, I'm sure the hiker has nothing but gratitude for him."

'Wow, I didn't know Norton thought the world of Embry. And I definitely wouldn't have thought that he'd take our side,' Collin thought.

The interview ended and the reporter in front of the police station reappeared on screen.

"Oliver Norton obviously believes in the goodness of the shape-shifters. However, there are also people who have developed hatred towards them. Gavin Buchanan," we all groaned in unison.

'That bloke is just furious that his daughter chose someone else over him!' Zack complained.

"… daughter Ava stays loyal to her werewolf boyfriend, of whom she awaits a baby."

Gavin Buchanan stood in his doorway. His face was red with fury again.

"I always knew that boy was no good! Do you know when he first took interest in Ava? Well, I'll tell you: when she was eleven! He offered to tutor her in math and my wife didn't see his pedophilia. I worked a lot, so I never met him back then. When she was fourteen they officially started dating. Everyone told Ava that he was no good, her friends, the teachers and we, her parents. But she didn't listen to anyone. We forbid her to see him but she met him nonetheless. He had already hexed her into submission. And now he impregnated her with his bastard. He fled and left her behind, but still she takes his side, defends him and even chose him over us, her real family! After he left her! The only explanation for that is that he manipulated her, hexed her, brainwashed her, something like that. And that little thing inside her womb is probably going to kill her when it wants to get out."

"Some wives of the shape-shifters have children with their husbands and are still alive."

"Yes, because they're Quileute, too! But my Ava is a normal human, a white girl whose body wasn't made to give birth to a monster."

'What a drama queen. Does he really believe what he's saying?' Collin asked.

'Probably.'

"I don't think you have to worry about your daughter's health. A doctor is observing her pregnancy and he'll certainly interfere if the baby poses a threat to Ava," the reporter reassured.

"Ava won't let him kill it. She's manipulated into loving that thing inside of her. She wouldn't believe you if you told her that it's killing her. All that's left for me to do is pray."

Suddenly Sky attended to the forest around him with all his senses.

'It's the SAR team. If they keep their current direction, they'll pass me without noticing me, but they're heading towards the Cullens' house,' he observed.

'They can't get there. You have to show yourself and lead them away, Sky. Try not to make it obvious that you want them to follow you. And be careful. We don't want you to be shot,' Aaron instructed, 'Collin, if anybody is outside the house, get them inside and to the upper floors. Turn off the TV and any lights. The house has to seem abandoned.'

Collin phased back. Sky was nervous. His thoughts raced around his task. He jogged a few hundred feet to get right into the way the SAR team was taking and lied down. The voices of the search team got closer. When Sky could already see them through the leaves and branches of the brushwood, Aaron urged, 'Don't wait too long, Sky.'

Sky got up and yawned, pretending that he had slept. The voices died down and Sky turned his head towards them as if he had just noticed them.

"Is that a normal wolf or a werewolf?" a soldier asked.

"Look at his size. No normal wolf is that huge. Definitely werewolf," a dog handler replied.

Another soldier raised his gun and Sky darted off. Several shots droned through the forest. Sky yelped and we all flinched, afraid that the wound would force him to rest.

'That was my foreleg! Crap, I think the bullet crashed the bone,' Sky explained. He continued running on three legs. Another shot sounded and he changed course, causing the bullet to miss his tail by just a few inches. The dogs had started barking and the search team ran to follow Sky. Of course they couldn't keep up with him, despite his handicap. When the voices, barks and the sound of running feet had subsided, Sky stopped and examined his wounded leg. He tried to walk on it, but gave up immediately.

'Shit, I think the bones healed in the wrong places. See that? I've got a bend in my leg that shouldn't be there.'

The search team came into view again and Sky continued his way on three legs. Right then Collin phased back.

'The Cullen house looks totally unsuspicious.'

'Good,' Aaron said, 'Collin, a bullet broke Sky's leg and it healed wrong. You have to take over for him so that he can get to Kim and let her help him.'

'Already on my way. Hang in there, Sky!'

Not a minute later he thought, 'Okay, here's the plan: I catch up with you and show myself to the search team. Together we head to the Sol Duc River and both get into it. You drift downstream – beware of the rapids – and get out of the Quileute River when you reach the reservation border. There you can cross our old tracks that have confused the dogs yesterday. There at the latest they'll lose your track and you can return to the Cullen house. Meanwhile, I'll just cross the river and I'll wait on the other river bank until the search team sees me and make sure that they follow me. There's a close bridge where they can get across the river.'

'Sounds good,' Sky replied.

'Really? Can you manage that with your leg? The rapids, the long way from the reservation to the house?' Aaron asked concerned.

'Sure. It doesn't really hurt as long as I don't try to walk on it.'

'But the three-legged walk will tire you out.'

'Hey, I'm a shape-shifter. My stamina is better than that.'

'Leah, can you get close enough to Sam's house to listen to the TV? I would like to stay up to date on the latest news.'

'I'll try,' I replied and approached the secluded house carefully. Two soldiers were sitting on the front porch and I could hear the voice of the doctor who wanted to accompany Ava during her pregnancy. The soldiers didn't pay any attention to the forest and I managed to hide under some bushes close to the edge of the woods. The TV was running, though Basti and Ava both talked to the physician and didn't seem to pay attention to the screen.

"We just got the news that right at this moment a hunt is going on in the woods north of Forks. The search team disturbed the rest of a cream white wolf, whose height gives away that he must be a werewolf. He fled, but he got wounded by a bullet. Although Chad Sykes's bullet wound healed in no time, this wolf's wound seems to be more persistent. He's running on three legs and has to take a break every now and then, which allows the search team to catch up."

'If they knew that I only take breaks because I want them to catch up!' Sky laughed, 'Hey, Collin!'

'Hey, Sky,' Collin chuckled. He had caught up to Sky and ran next to him.

"Oh, I just hear that another wolf has joined the wounded one. Looks like they didn't leave the region as the military first assumed because of the missing cars. The two wolves have changed their north-western direction and are heading east."

They had won a healthy margin and the search team was nowhere in sight when they jumped into the water of the Sol Duc River. Sky gave in to the force of the current and drifted downstream while Collin struggled to get to the opposite river bank. Wolf legs aren't really the best swimming utensils, that's why I swam in human form yesterday. But he reached the bank nonetheless and walked over to the spot that was directly opposite the place where they had gotten into the water. He stood behind a tree which protected his torso so that no bullet could hit his heart and waited for the search team. When the first soldier emerged from the woods and noticed Collin, he immediately aimed his machine gun at him and fired a stream of bullets at him. Collin hid himself completely behind the tree before the first bullet could reach him. When the firing stopped, he carefully peeped out. The rest of the search team had gathered on the river bank.

"Why are these mutts so freaking fast? It's like they know that you'll raise your gun before you even decide on it!" the soldier who had shot complained.

"Still, they're not fast enough to escape. Well, until now. How the hell do we cross that river?"

A soldier sent another shot across the river.

"Did you see his face? Like he was laughing at us. Teasing us because we can't cross the river."

"There's a bridge about a quarter of a mile from here," one of the dog handlers provided.

"The wolves will be miles away before we're over there to follow their tracks."

"It's the only option we have. The dogs will be able to follow their tracks this time."

The team started heading north towards the bridge. Collin followed them on the other river bank, careful to hide behind a tree whenever a soldier raised his gun.

"See that? He's teasing us!"

"Wouldn't he know the bridge?"

The other one shrugged. Some long five minutes later they reached the bridge. Collin jogged into the forest. He always stayed within eyesight of the search team, but the trees prevented that they could aim their guns properly.

"Is it only me or does he want us to follow him? Clearly he could run a lot faster. And where's the other one gone?"

"Maybe he wants us to follow him to give his wounded friend the chance to escape. That one would have been much easier to catch, but it's too late to return to the river and search for his track. We'll follow this one."

"He'll never let us come closer than this. Can't we let the dogs loose on him so that they hunt him down?" a soldier suggested. The dog handlers clearly weren't that thrilled about his idea.

"Are you insane? He'd rip them all apart in seconds!"

"These are search dogs, not fighting dogs or hunting dogs."

* * *

Half an hour later the reporter announced that the search team had lost the wounded wolf and that the other wolf headed east-south-east, raising the suspicion that the shape-shifters hid in the National Park.

"We advise you to cancel any planned trips to Olympic National Park as long as the shape-shifters haven't been caught or declared harmless. You should also set aside any other trips into the forests of the North-western Olympic Peninsula. Inhabitants of Clallam and Jefferson County are recommended to avoid lone streets, especially at night. Pepper sprays seem to be a useful weapon to keep a shape-shifter away, but the retail market announced fifteen minutes ago that the sprays are sold out all over the peninsula. People rushed to buy one after hearing that the police had been able to restrain one of the shifters with it. This morning, Governor Joanne Harris has called legislators in for a special session concerning the future treatment of the shape-shifters. Questions that will be discussed are: Can shape-shifters be considered human and therefore deserve human rights or are they rather wild animals that fall under the Protection of Animal Act? What kind of actions will be necessary when the scientists declare the shape-shifters to be dangerous? A special committee is already discussing the possibilities. If the shape-shifters are proven to pose a threat to humans, they can't be allowed to live freely. The committee already has some first ideas of how to restrain them. They could be imprisoned in a high-security wing or, if they should be allowed a bit more freedom and a tiny bit of trust, the Quileute reservation could be turned into a barred area which the shape-shifters wouldn't be allowed to leave. The rest of the Quileute tribe could be resettled on the Makah reservation. A point of contention within the committee is the question if humans who want to enter the werewolf enclosure or even live there should be allowed to do so at their own risk or not."

'And what about the possibility that the scientists declare us harmless?' Zack grumbled.

'If they want to lock us up, they'll have to catch us first,' Aaron said fiercely. Meanwhile Sky had reached the Cullens' house. Kim rebroke his leg and put it into a cast.

"In an hour you'll be walking on four legs again," she reassured.

The rest of the day passed on relatively uneventful. In the evening Collin left the proximity of the search team and ran to the National Park, where he climbed over the mountains on ways humans wouldn't be able to follow him on. He then made a long way round back to the Cullens' house.

* * *

_Next update on Tuesday._

_Reviews are always welcome!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you so much for another bunch of reviews, Ciara, ShadowCub, Fflamea and WolvePackForever!_

_Ciara, thank you for your honesty. I hope this chapter is better again, though it's more like a filler chapter. The purpose of I narration is actually that you only get to know the thoughts of one single person. I'm only straining that purpose by having two narrators. So that's why there won't be any chapters in other people's point of views. You'll get some insight into Troy's opinion of this whole mess in this chapter though._

_ShadowCub, you honestly made me rethink my whole plot. But most of the story is already written and I don't have time for a complete rewrite. I am thinking about rewriting a small part though. I had tried to understand the legal sutuation of reservations before, but maybe I failed. I thought, although they have their own law, police and administration, they were sort of in the same legal poisition as a state of the United States, still part of the country, which would mean the US army could come in? And, well, as long as they were on the reservation, they might not have shot immediately, but as Charlie said they would have shot if they had felt threatened. Now, however, only Leah is still on the reservation and the others aren't, meaning that they could be shot because they're thought to be dangerous. We'll see later on what the vampires, the Cullens and Jake think about this. Remember that it's not even been two days yet, so there hasn't been that much time to react._

_Fflamea, great reasoning, but that already didn't work when the Europeans first settled in America :D I think I wouldn't bee too eager to meet a shape-shifter. I'd probably be as scared as the people in my story._

_WolvePackForever, yeah, they are :D_

_Thank you, noarklawson, for following and favoriting! :)_

* * *

**Half-Convinced**

-Chad's POV-

Tuesday, July 9

The reporters and scientists had been made to leave an hour ago when the majority of the police officers had quitting time and only the minor night shift remained in the station. Since I hadn't made an attempt to demolish the steel bars and break out yet I was for once left alone. I phased and heard the story about Collin and Sky deceiving the SAR team. My brothers also told me about the ideas of the so-called Shape-shifter Restraint Committee.

'Great. Just great. I'm never going to be free again,' I mused. Sympathy and pity from the others flooded my mind.

'Don't give up yet,' Aaron said, 'When the day comes on which there is no hope left that they'll ever declare us harmless, we'll figure out a way to free you. Before you get locked up in a high-security cell or the barred reservation they have to transport you there. Since we'll have nothing to lose anymore, we can attack your escort and get you out of there. And then we'll leave the country and find a place to hide for the rest of our lives.'

'Don't risk your lives for me if the escort is too strong.'

'We can't just leave you behind without even trying,' Collin objected.

'Can we switch to a less depressing topic? At the moment there is still hope,' Leah said.

Instead of bringing up something else we fell silent. Despite the silence, the presence of my friends' minds comforted me. I curled up on the cell floor, planning to fall asleep with this comfort. I was already half asleep when the door to the station opened and Troy came in. I yawned and looked at him questioningly.

"Um, hi," he said awkwardly and sat down on the chair in front of my cell. He wasn't here officially. His shift was over and he must have been at home already, because he wore casual clothes.

"I thought, now that all those nosy people have gone, we could talk in private."

I was reluctant to leave my current comfortable position and continued to watch him.

"You know, one-sided conversations are kind of awkward."

I sighed and got up. I turned my back to him, phased and quickly put my clothes back on. Julia had provided me with some of my own clothes so I didn't have to wear my uniform anymore.

"Happy?" I asked.

"Yes, thank you."

I sat down on the bench.

"Here, I smuggled something in for you," Troy said and reached into his backpack. He pulled two bottles of beer out and handed me one through the bars.

"Nice," I said, "thanks."

"I knew you'd like that."

We opened our beers and managed to clink bottles through the bars.

"You could come in, you know. I promise not to try and break out."

"I don't have the keys anymore. Greg doesn't trust me."

"But you didn't get suspended, did you?"

"No."

"How's Charlie?"

"Not very well. He's got to face a department trial."

"Shit."

"He'll probably get out of it with a fine and a dismissal. His daughter married rich, didn't she? I'm sure she can help him out."

"Certainly. He should have arrested me nonetheless and pretended that he had been clueless."

"If you'd be declared harmless they'd certainly withdraw the charge on him and rehabilitate him."

"Do you think that's ever going to happen?"

"If that's what you are, yes."

I huffed.

"If I can't even convince you, how can I ever convince others?" I asked bitterly.

"I'm half-convinced. That's why I'm here."

"I don't kill people, Troy," I declared looking him directly in the eyes. He averted my gaze.

"I want to believe that. It's just… not that easy."

"Why not?"

"I've looked at these unsolved cases of missing people in this area. Hikers reported on sightings of huge bears. You are huge and I guess from a distance one could mistake you for a bear. Whenever someone went missing, such a bear was seen not far away. Can you explain that to me?"

"I wasn't even a shape-shifter back then!"

"But some of your friends were. If they kill people, you could, too."

"But they don't. The killers of these missing hikers are what we try to protect our tribe from. Back then, my brothers tried to protect the hikers, too, but they were inexperienced and they couldn't be everywhere."

"So what, you take the law into your hands and kill murderers?"

"They aren't just any murderers. Humans can't fight them and there's no chance they could ever be sentenced by justice, so we have to take the law into our hands."

"Humans can't fight them? What are they? Zombies?"

"Unfortunately they're much more intelligent than zombies."

"So? What are they?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you."

"I promise not to tell anyone."

"Doesn't change anything. I'm not able to violate an Alpha order."

"Alpha order? You mean, you have, like, a pack hierarchy? Like real wolves?"

"Yes."

"Okaaay. But, well, your Alpha doesn't have to know that you told me."

"No, you don't understand. I'm literally not able to disobey. It's hard to explain to outsiders. My Alpha could order me to jump off a bridge and I'd do it. Not that he'd ever ask something like that."

"So, he could also order you to kill a hiker and you'd do it?"

I rolled my eyes.

"He never has and he never will order me to kill a human."

"Is Aaron Chavis your current Alpha?"

"Are you going to use that against him?"

"Nothing that you tell me tonight will leave this room. If people knew that your Alpha can manipulate you to do things you don't want to do, they'd think that proves their point that the girls have been manipulated, too. They haven't, have they?"

"No. Alpha orders just work on shape-shifters."

"Where's your place in the hierarchy?"

"In the middle. Best position ever if you ask me. Not too much responsibility, but not a weakling either."

Troy kept quiet for a while. Finally he shook his head in a disbelieving manner.

"So many times I complained about how boring the work of small town officers is. I never wanted my best friend to get in trouble just so that Forks wouldn't be so boring anymore."

I chuckled.

"It's not your fault. I told you this was going to be the most exciting year of your live, didn't I?"

"Yes. But you also promised me fun. This isn't funny at all."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Troy grinned slightly.

"I understand now why you couldn't tell me your secret. It must have been difficult to live like that. Always hiding something. Always having to fear that somehow someone could find out. And I guess I also understand why you enjoyed my company especially because I was clueless. Gave you some sense of normalcy, huh?"

"Exactly."

"Why didn't you stop shifting like some of your friends? That would have given you some more normalcy back, wouldn't it?"

"I was waiting for my soul mate."

"I didn't know you were romantic. You believe in the one true love?"

"It's hard not to believe in it when you're a shape-shifter and you see your brothers with their soul mates. I want what they have."

"Your brothers already found their soul mates? How do they even know that she's the right one?"

"Not all of them found her yet. A shape-shifter knows when he stands in front of his soul mate. One eye contact is all he needs to be 100% sure. That's called imprinting."

"So, are all the girlfriends and wives the soul mate of their shape-shifter?"

"Yes."

"But you've had girlfriends before."

"Nobody said I had to live in abstinence until I found her. Although it would become tricky if I were with another girl when I finally imprinted. However, at the moment it doesn't look like I'm ever going to have a girlfriend again."

"Maybe, if you were declared harmless…"

"That's never going to happen, Troy. Let's face it. I'm going to rot in a cell or a cage for the rest of my life."

"I wish I could do something."

"I thought you were only half-convinced yourself."

"I know that you're not a killer. You would never willingly kill innocents. So, if you can control your wolf when you're in a tiny cell with three humans, you can also control yourself outside in the woods."

I nodded.

"Then all that's left for you to learn to believe is that I don't have to control myself because I don't have the urge to kill."

"Okay. Done."

That went a bit too smooth for my liking.

"Give the people some time. You'll convince them all if you show some patience, continue your cooperation and let the scientists do these psychology tests they came up with. There are people out there who want to believe you, you know."

I shook my head.

"You'll see. Well, I'll let you sleep now. Good night."

"Good night," I replied. He was already at the door when I continued, "Hey, Troy?"

He turned back to me.

"Thank you for giving me a chance and for believing me."

"What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't?"

* * *

_Sorry that this was rather short. There's a turning point in the next chapter! As usual, I'm going to update on Saturday. If I can finish the chapter in time and you keep these awesome reviews coming, I might already update on Friday ;)_


	13. Chapter 13

_Early update, you can thank my lovely reviewers for that._

_Thank you, Ciara, Fflamea and ShadowCub!_

_Fflamea, aw, thank you so much. You made my day :)_

* * *

**Scared Little Puppy**

-Leah's POV-

Wednesday, July 10

In the morning shocking news awaited us.

"Good morning Washington, I'm Stephen Westwood and here's the latest news. The dangerousness of the Quileute shape-shifters seems proven. Early this morning a small group of hikers who spent the night at Lillian Camp in Olympic National Park posted a member of their group missing. The rangers quickly found a trail of blood that led to a clearing half a mile from the camp, where they found the dead, mangled body of the hiker, who was only twenty-two years old. Although there are no paw prints at all, the scene practically screams _deed of a werewolf_. The hiker's limbs are missing and there are claw and bite marks all over the rest of the body."

'Are they really trying to blame a bear, wolf or mountain lion attack on us?' Collin asked pissed.

"Strangely, the hiker's body was drained of blood."

'Well, that explains everything,' Collin growled, 'A leech had a midnight meal and made it look like a werewolf attack to take revenge on us.'

"The claw marks fit to the size of the paw prints which the wolf made that was being hunted by the search team yesterday. In addition, he was headed in the direction of the National Park. Park manager Oliver Norton has initiated the evacuation of the park. Those hikers who are far away from the park's borders will be airlifted by helicopters."

'Collin, Zack, meet me where Boulder Creek flows into Lake Mills. We have to find that leech before it leaves a trace of dead, mangled bodies across the peninsula. The rest stays extra alert. Dave, Simon and Sky, stay close to the houses with our imprints and kids. Leah, you have to cover the whole reservation. Hayden, you inform Sam about the news and my instructions and then you go help Leah.'

Although I had done a morning check along the reservation's border just half an hour ago, I raced along the border a second time, and then a third, over and over again, only pausing for a few minutes when I passed Sam and Emily's house. Every time it was difficult to leave again. I was afraid that the vampire could cross the reservation border behind me and kill Basti while I was on the other side of the reservation. When Hayden joined me I told him to stay close to the house and, if the vampire showed up, try to stay alive long enough for me to reach the scene. My words scared him, but I didn't mind at that moment. I was scared, too. We all were. We feared that the pale-faces would stick to the conclusion that we had killed that hiker. We feared that the vampire would kill more humans and leave them like that. We feared that he could kill our imprints, our families, our friends. We feared that he wouldn't remain the only one. Sky had gone into the house and gathered everyone in the living room, so that he had everyone in view and could simultaneously keep us up to date on the news on TV.

"The scientists who did tests on the imprisoned shape-shifter yesterday have compared the results to tests of other Quileute who are believed not to be shape-shifters although they carry the responsible gene. The scientists have found differences and think it safe to say that they can differentiate between a real shape-shifter and a gene carrier who hasn't phased. The friends of the shape-shifters have repeated over and over again that most of the girls in the shape-shifter group aren't shape-shifters and that the kids haven't phased yet either. The police have now shown their willingness to drop the warrants on those fugitives who turn themselves in, let the scientists do a test and are proven not to be shape-shifters."

'Why, that's what I call good news!' Dave cheered.

'Yes, but we should confirm that they keep to their word before we send all the imprints back to the reservation. Any suggestions whom we could send as advance party?' Aaron asked. Silence answered him.

'Well then, my choice, my responsibility,' Aaron sighed, 'Simon, sneak into the Young's house and tell Olivia that she has to turn herself in. Be careful that nobody sees you and make sure that nobody sees Olivia leaving either. Stay in the house until it gets dark.'

'Okay.'

He phased back and we had to wait fifteen minutes before he phased again.

'Olivia wasn't thrilled to be the guinea pig. But she left. Claire's father is driving her to the Cullens' house where she will take Leah's Buick to drive to the police. As soon as she gets free she'll call the other girls so that…'

'Oh my god, he's here!' Hayden yelled terrified, referring to the vampire. I had already been heading into the direction of Sam's house and now I pushed myself harder off the ground, gaining even more speed than I thought myself capable of.

'Give me thirty seconds!'

He whimpered as the vampire grinned at him. I recognized him and growled furiously.

'That's Archibald! I knew that bastard couldn't be trusted!'

Archibald was an ancestor of Julia's stepfather. Seth had kept him alive because he was willing to become vegetarian with the Cullens' help. He had left shortly after though and returned to the normal vampire diet.

"You're the new one, aren't you?" Archibald asked Hayden, "The one who phased in the middle of the street two days ago."

Hayden whimpered again and ducked his head.

'Hayden! Compose yourself! You're designed to kill vampires and you definitely have the strength to fight him off until I'm there to help you.'

"Aw, how cute, such a scared little puppy!" Archibald cooed, "You don't mind if I enter that house, do you?"

'Hayden! Stop him!' I ordered frantically with Beta force.

Archibald was at the back door in the fraction of a second. Hayden lunged at him with desperate courage and Archibald crashed into the wall with enough force to crack his skin.

'Very good! Rip his head off before he heals!' I instructed. But Hayden wasn't quick enough and Archibald sent him flying against the next tree. The tree had a diameter of several feet and withstood the force, but Hayden's back cracked audibly.

'I can't move!' he whimpered horror-stricken.

Finally I got into eyesight of the house. The soldiers who had been on the front porch had heard the noise from the backyard. They were gripping their guns tightly and were about to round the corner. I cursed. If Archibald managed to escape because they interfered I'd push their fucking guns down their throats. I had heard the back door clap and burst through the front door to find Archibald before he found Basti, Julia or Ava. Right at that moment Julia screamed at the top of her lungs in the kitchen. I skidded on the slippery tiles as I turned around the corner. Archibald heard me coming and turned to face me. I faked an attack from the left and attacked from the right, my teeth digging deep into his marble-like shoulder. I had literally jumped him and now I kicked myself off of him, ripping the shoulder and the adjacent arm off in the process.

Julia climbed out of the window, which was good, because the kitchen was way too small for a fight where one had to watch out that a human didn't get hurt. I threw the arm away and flinched slightly when it shattered Emily's chinaware. But I really couldn't concern myself with material assets at the moment. Archibald lunged at me and got me in a headlock with the arm he had left. Before he could break my neck I turned my head and closed my jaws around his face. He immediately let me go and pushed against me, but instead of getting rid of me he only helped me to tear his face apart. Unfortunately, he still had his eyes. Basti suddenly appeared in the doorway. At that moment I didn't notice the device in his hands. All I could see was that Archibald lunged at him. I jumped after him. Suddenly he burst into flames and I yelped as I landed on top of him, burning my paws and stomach before being able to jump off him.

"Oh, my god, Leah!" Basti exclaimed and kneeled down beside me. I phased back although I knew that that hurt like hell with wounds that hadn't healed yet.

"The arm and the face, you've got to burn them too," I panted. Basti got up and threw the two pieces into the fire. The flames started to spread. I couldn't walk because it hurt too much. Burns healed way too slowly for my liking. Basti picked me up.

"Julia! Get out of the house immediately! There's a fire in the kitchen!" he yelled and carried me out of the remainders of the front door. Julia rounded the corner of the house.

"I'm already outside. Is he dead?"

"Yes."

"Thank God! And you, Leah, of course."

"And Basti, actually. How the hell did you do that?" I asked him.

"Gas torch. I thought it was worth a try."

"It wasn't. You were lucky that he wasn't faster than you."

"But he's dead, isn't he."

"Where's Ava? And the soldiers? And Hayden? Did they shoot him?"

"No," Julia reassured, "They've cornered him. They're aiming their guns at him and he doesn't dare to move while they don't dare to approach him further. Ava is grocery shopping."

Finally my skin had healed enough that I could touch it without flinching because of the pain.

"I guess I have to rescue the pup. God, Emily's going to kill us. She loved that house."

I phased and thought of a way to free Hayden.

'Hayden, did you get back your ability to move?'

'Yes, but still I can't. I'm looking straight into the barrels of two shotguns.'

'I know. Okay, listen, I'll try to distract them. The second their guns aren't aimed at you anymore you have to take to your heels and escape. Got it?'

'Got it. But how do you want to distract them? Not even the fight distracted them, nor do the flames that come out of the roof.'

I went into the forest and approached the back yard from the side. I took a run-up and lunged at a thin fir with all the force I could muster. The young tree creaked and then the trunk broke with a loud crashing noise and I felt the tree falling underneath me.

"Watch out!" Julia yelled and the soldiers tumbled backwards, their eyes glued to the falling tree, giving Hayden the opportunity to escape. I jumped off the tree and followed him into the woods. I heard the soldiers' curses and smirked with satisfaction. I hadn't been sure if my plan would work out. Above all I hadn't been sure if I could really fell a tree.

'That was brilliant, Leah! Thank you!' Hayden laughed happily.

'You two are alright?' Aaron made sure.

'Yep. But I highly recommend staying away from flames. Burns are a pain in the ass.'

'Why did the leech suddenly go up in flames anyway?' Collin asked.

'Basti had a gas burner. And somehow he managed to be faster than Archibald.'

'Cool.'

We laughed, relieved and happy that Archibald was dead and Hayden hadn't been caught.

'We'll examine the area around Lillian Camp nonetheless. If we don't find the scent of a vampire, we'll know that it was Archibald. If not… well, then Archibald isn't the only leech in the region,' Aaron decided. Archibald had had a gift that allowed him to hide his scent.

* * *

-Chad's POV-

Wednesday, July 10

I was bracing myself for the next day of tests and nosy journalists when it got loud in the police station.

"No! He couldn't have done it! He was locked up here, for heaven's sake!" Troy yelled.

"But his friends have done it! Werewolves are dangerous, it's proven!" Greg argued.

"That doesn't give you the right to treat him like a dumb animal! You can't do that!"

"We have a court order, Troy. Back off if you don't want to be suspended!"

I was pacing my cell anxiously. What was this about? What had happened? And what were they about to do with me? The door to the main room opened and I whirled around. Greg and three other officers entered followed by Dr. Richmond and another scientist who rolled a stretcher into the room. Dr. Richmond carried the blow pipe with which he had tried to anesthetize me the first time. When he raised it, I reacted quickly. I tore the bench out of its bolting in the ground and shielded myself. My ex-colleagues pulled their guns.

"Whatever you're up to, I'm," I sighed heavily, "I'm going to cooperate. Okay? Just don't leave me clueless. What do you think my friends have done and what do you intend to do with me? That's all I want to know. You can anesthetize me the normal way afterwards. You don't need that stupid blow pipe."

My heart was racing. The stretcher implied that I would be brought somewhere else. A prison? A high security cell?

"The SAR team followed one of the other werewolves yesterday. He was headed to the National Park. Last night a hiker who was camping in the park with some friends was killed."

My eyes widened.

"What makes you think that that was a shape-shifter?"

"There are claw and bite marks on the body. The limbs have been ripped out and are nowhere to be found. The size of the claw marks fit to the wolf which has been followed."

"Did the hiker's friends see the shape-shifter?"

"No, they didn't notice anything. They discovered the missing of their friend this morning."

"That must have been an animal attack. We don't kill people!" I said desperately.

"A wild animal would have left paw prints. But there were none."

"We leave paw prints, too! We can't fly!" I argued. This was a nightmare. I had to be still sleeping.

"It was definitely not an animal attack. Animals aren't able to kidnap someone out of his tent without his friends hearing anything. And animals usually don't drain their prey of blood either. So, how do you explain this?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"He was drained of blood?"

Crap! Forget the nightmare, this was our very own apocalypse!

"Yes. Does that tell you anything?"

I wasn't able to tell them that the hiker had been killed by a vampire and I doubted they'd believe me anyway. I shook my head. There had to be a way to convince them that the scene was not what it looked like at first glance.

"Where did they find the body?"

"In the woods, half a mile from the camp."

"How could they find him so quickly?"

"A blood trail led them."

I snorted.

"And you really think my brothers would have made it that easy for you if they had killed that hiker? Can't you see what that really is?"

"Enlighten us."

"That scene was made up to look like a werewolf attack! Someone wanted the body to be found. Someone wanted you to think that my brothers did that. If the bite marks were real and not faked, the attacker must have left his DNA on the body. The scientists already know how our DNA looks like. Examine the body. I bet you won't find any DNA of a shape-shifter. There won't even be a hair of fur."

"We'll do that, I assure you that much. But you will never be declared harmless if the scientists don't get all their tests done. And they want a safe environment for that. Dr. Richmond's application to transfer you to Woodland Park Zoo has been accepted."

Oh my God. The zoo. Breathe, Chad, I told myself. Keep calm. Everything's going to be alright. The tests will prove your harmlessness. It's just a temporary inconvenience.

I fought against the rising tears. I wouldn't break down in front of them. I hadn't noticed with how much force I was gripping the bench until I broke a part out of it.

You can do that. Accept your fate manly. Keep your head held high.

"Chad? Are you alright?" Sean, another colleague of mine, asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied. Luckily my voice didn't betray me.

"You're not going to be the zoo's newest attraction. Your enclosure is secluded. It cannot be overlooked by visitors. They usually quarantine sick or new animals in there," Dr. Richmond explained.

"Do you expect me to be grateful for that fact?" I ground out.

"No. Not really."

"So, do you keep your word, Chad? Will you accept the anesthetization and make it as easy as possible for the Doc?" Sean asked.

"Yes, I will," I answered gravely and put the bench down.

"Well, I suggest the officers aim their guns at you – just in case – and open the cell door. We'll park the stretcher directly in front of it and you'll lie down. I'll insert a cannula into your arm and inject the anesthetic," Richmond explained.

Greg didn't seem very pleased with that suggestion.

"We can't trust him," he objected.

"I swear I'll behave."

I'd be insane if I didn't. I wasn't in favor of another gunshot wound.

"Well then. No sudden movements, understood? Nice and slow."

I nodded. While my former colleagues aimed their guns at me, the second scientist rolled the stretcher to the cell door. Greg unlocked it and quickly aimed at me again. I approached the stretcher really slowly and climbed it in slow motion. As soon as I was lying, Greg placed his pistol right above my heart. Dr. Richmond fastened the belts, inserted the cannula and injected a syringe of a clear, light yellow liquid. Immediately I felt dizziness clouding my mind. However, that was all it was ever going to be.

"You'll need more than that. Are you sure you have enough to keep me knocked out all the way to Seattle?" I questioned.

"We can stop by at Port Angeles hospital."

He injected another syringe and then a third. Finally my vision started to blur and seconds later everything went black.

* * *

_Did you think the turning point would get us closer to a happy ending? Sorry to disappoint, I'm not done with the wolves, especially Chad, yet..._

_The next chapter has yet to be written, but I think I can get it done until Tuesday. Reviews might motivate me enough to finish it earlier and give you an early update again, but I'm not promising anything._


	14. Author's Note - Sorry!

**Author's note**

_I am terribly sorry, but I have to put this story on hiatus. The chapter that belongs in the place of this AN turned out to be extremely difficult. I only start posting a story when most of it is written, with just a few chapters in between or in the end missing. Usually these missing chapters are planned out roughly in my head and that's good enough for me to know that I can post the story without long waiting periods for my readers. But even with the plan in my head I just don't get this chapter right. It won't get in line with the following chapters, and the whole story doesn't make sense anymore.  
_

_I also have a lot of uni stuff to do these days, so I barely find the time to work on that problem. Therefore, sadly, I won't continue this story for a (long) while. Maybe I won't continue at all, but rewrite it from scratch. I probably won't find the time before September, though. You can blame my bachelor thesis for that._

_Again, I'm truly sorry. Thank you for reading this far._

_Not to forget, a last thank you to my reviewers, ShadowCub, Ciara and Fflamea.  
_

_Ciara, the Quileute phase when they're about sixteen, some a bit earlier, others later, but when they've passed a certain age without phasing, they will never phase. It's the same for the Reichenbachs, but the time period in which they can phase for the first time is longer, from 15 to 30. When Leah imprinted on Basti, he was 28, still young enough to become a shape-shifter. Now he's 31, so he just passed the "chance" to become a shape-shifter. _

_Thank you, ChumIzFum, for favoriting!_

_Love, _

_-WolfsDen_


End file.
